Dino Thunder: A Different Take
by MF 22
Summary: Mesogog did not have the White Gem, but the Red and Green Gems. What will happen when a traumatized soccer player and his lifelong friend are captured and bonded to the Gems? Rated strong T for angst and tragedy. Rating could rise to M due to later content.
1. Chapter 1

**Dino Thunder: A Different Take**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Power Rangers, Saban does. I own the characters and events that did not take place in the series.

**AN: **I have received permission from mykkila09 to use a similar sub-plot to her own Dino Thunder story. This story will be darker than Dino Thunder itself was. Make no mistake: **This is an adult themed fic.** While the rating is T at this moment in time, it could be raised to M due to later content. If you are uncomfortable with drama, tragedy, and angst, this will not be the fic for you.

**Summary:** Mesogog had the Red and Green Dino Gems, and not the White Gem. What will happen when a traumatized soccer player and his lifelong friend are kidnapped and bonded to the Red and Green Gems?

Chapter 1: Day of the Dino

It was a beautiful day in Reefside, California. Just outside the entrance to Reefside High, Doctor Tommy Oliver is seen looking around at the surroundings of his new school. He still couldn't believe that he was a high school science teacher. If you had told him he'd be a teacher, especially a high school science teacher, when he was a teenager, he would've just laughed and left. But after what happened three years ago, he just wanted to live a quiet, normal life. He was still unnerved by that fateful incident:

**Three years ago-**

_On an island located on the Pacific Ocean, doctoral candidate Tommy Oliver is seen working on a dig with his friend and colleague, Dr. Anton Mercer. It was because of Dr. Mercer that Tommy was on this dig. He went across the country, seeking the best and brightest young minds to build his team for what he hoped would be a controversial, yet illuminating project. Controversy gets people talking, and the more people talked about this ambitious endeavor, the better chance his team would have for being recognized for their contributions to Humanity._

_Dr. Mercer knew his project was not only ambitious, but also very risky-Utilizing what was then known about dinosaurs, he and his small, but highly skilled and eager team, would create robotic versions of dinosaurs, in an effort to study their behavior and learn a great deal more about them than what was previously considered possible. There were many things that could go wrong, and Dr. Mercer knew he was taking a huge gamble here. But as a scientist, he knew that they couldn't learn without pushing the boundaries of understanding and yes, taking some risks. Such was the way of science, and it hasn't changed in thousands of years._

_It was on Dr. Mercer's tour of the country that he encountered a fresh-faced Tommy Oliver, who was pursuing his doctorate in paleontology at Harvard. He already had Master's degrees in electrical engineering and software design. Tommy was exactly the kind of person Mercer was looking for-ambitious, studious, and passionate about his work. And, Dr. Mercer had to admit, he'd be very hard-pressed to find another of Tommy's caliber-despite his heavy class load, he was still maintaining a 3.8 GPA, a feat that Mercer was quite impressed with. Being a Harvard alumnus himself, Anton knew that certain classes required of those in the doctorate program required the patience of a saint-some teachers had an annoying tendency to aggravate one so much that students were quite tempted to shove said teachers' faces through a wall. And now poor Oliver was stuck with those teachers. _

_It didn't take Anton long at all to recruit Tommy for his expedition. Anton found Tommy to be quite a refreshing change from the largely stuffy and arrogant students he had met on his quest for team members. The soon to be 30 year old was humble, yet confident in his abilities. Anton chalked that up to his lifetime's devotion to his martial arts, something that Tommy said had usually kept him grounded and calm. It was also the discipline acquired through his martial arts studies that kept him from knocking out certain teachers, which made Anton crack up. He knew all too well of what Tommy spoke._

_When they arrived at the island where the project was being set up, Anton told soon-to-be doctors Takashi and Oliver that they were to work on constructing and programming a prototype "dinosaur" so that they could study its behavior in a controlled setting. Takashi would build the robot, while Oliver would design the software and power source needed for the robot to come to life and do its thing. Tommy initially thought of using an RTG, or radioisotope thermo-electric generator, for the power source. Anton was intrigued with the idea, and said he would contact Harvard and see if they can procure one for their use. But he told Tommy to have a backup plan in case they couldn't get the RTG._

_The team wasn't able to procure an RTG, much to Tommy's disappointment. But he still had come up with a suitable power source: A fusion reactor. The team had obtained dinosaur DNA, although Tommy never did find out how they managed to get it. He thought it reminded him too much of those campy Jurassic Park movies, which he hoped would not be too close to the truth here. But the DNA came in handy, as the replicants' neural network could not fire up without the DNA. And fortunately for Tommy, the knowledge necessary for building a small fusion reactor was found in the Command Center's computers. With the permission of Zordon and Alpha, the original Rangers' good friends and mentors, the original Blue Ranger and one of Tommy's best friends, William "Billy" Cranston, copied everything on the Command Center's computers years ago. The now Dr. Cranston made and gave a copy to Tommy, knowing it might come in handy someday. Billy found it highly amusing and ironic that Tommy, he of the infamous faulty memory, was not only pursuing a PhD in paleontology of all things, but also managed to get two additional Masters degrees. Billy joked that he was trying to catch up to him in the number of degrees he's acquiring, as well as base of knowledge. Billy smirked and said that he still had a ways to go in that regard; he's actually gotten a tad cocky as of late, and Tommy couldn't be more thrilled. Gone was the stereotypical nerd who got pushed around by the Angel Grove High's resident knuckleheads, Bulk and Skull. In its place stood a confident and proud Dr. Cranston. He was still the down to Earth Billy the Rangers all knew. But he was now much more affable, and a bit cocky._

"_Laugh it up, old friend." Tommy thought._

_Armed with the requisite knowledge, Takashi and Tommy were able to build several replicants, including some Tyrannosaurus. Takashi was shocked that Tommy was as skilled as he was-he didn't strike the Japanese transplant as being a mechanical engineer. To that, Tommy chuckled, and responded that he watched a good friend of his very closely when they were teenagers, and over the years, Tommy had been building and creating things of his own. It was part of the reason he decided to pursue a degree in engineering, although he said he could possibly pursue a degree in Mechanical Engineering sometime in the future. Takashi was quite pleased. It seemed America's education system hadn't failed completely, as it produced Tommy, and apparently his friend Dr. Cranston, a noted scientist in astrophysics and biochemistry._

_One day, while Tommy was walking through a tunnel leading to the lab where he was working on a new dinosaur, there was a large explosion that shocked him. He instinctively knew it came from behind him, and he had to run. Fast. He did just that, and soon, he felt he was safe. _

_He was wrong. He distinctly heard a raspy, hissing voice say, "Fiiiind him. Whatever it takesss." _

_Tommy shuddered. "Mesogog." He had crossed paths with the prehensile creature once before, shortly after Anton had mysteriously disappeared. Nobody on the island knew what happened to their benefactor and sponsor, only that he had disappeared. As a former Ranger, Tommy knew that something insidious had to have been at work here. The island was thoroughly researched before they went on their expedition; there weren't any creatures or people that could simply make Anton vanish the way he seemingly had. _

_Tommy ran. He ran until he encountered one of the robots he helped create, which he dubbed the Tyrannodrones. The Tyrannodrone tried to grab Tommy's ankle, but he got free, and continued running through the tunnel, waiting out small explosions and groups of Tyrannodrones. He finally reached the end of the tunnel, and was promptly launched out into the meadow on the island by another explosion. Tommy groaned and pulled himself up, only to find a medium sized group of Tyrannodrones._

_Tommy was puzzled. They weren't supposed to be on this part of the island, and he certainly didn't program them for aggression. Yet here he was, trying to fight them off. He did well, for a while. But he was eventually tossed to the ground. It was times like this that he wished he still had active Ranger powers. He shook his head clear of those thoughts, saying that part of his life was over, and he didn't really want to go back to it. He kept running through the forest, avoiding Tyrannodrones where he could, and eventually came to a dead end that was overlooking the Pacific Ocean._

"_Not good," Tommy muttered. He turned back to see a group of Tyrannodrones coming up on him, only to be blown apart by yet another explosion. Tommy quickly made his choice, and dove into the water. He turned back once he swam a safe distance, and saw explosions rock the island, eventually making it sink into the ocean. Tommy felt lost-he had lost his good friends and colleagues in that island, good men and women who were only trying to further science and Human knowledge. They didn't deserve this. Tommy sighed sadly and started swimming off. He didn't know how long he was swimming, but eventually he ran out of energy. He kept pushing himself further and further, but even former Power Rangers' stamina levels eventually goes out after this much exertion. Just when Tommy thought he was going to drown, he was pulled out of the water by a group of biologists who were on an expedition of their own. Tommy couldn't keep his eyes open any longer, and darkness quickly overtook him._

_When Tommy woke up, he was in a hospital in Reefside, California. He didn't know how he got there, or who was responsible for his rescue. The doctor said he had been unconscious for over 3 days, and the biologists who rescued him had to get back to their project. Tommy was disappointed when the doctor told him that, as he wanted to thank them. He never did find out who they were, and the doctors didn't, either._

_After answering the same questions for what felt like thousands of times to various authorities, Tommy was able to go back to Harvard to finish his studies, and he got his PhD. It felt hollow, though. Anton and the others on the expedition became his friends, and he wanted them to be here at this time. He had tried to get the authorities to head back to where the island once was, in hopes of finding something, anything, that could explain what happened. He also hoped against hope to find someone still alive. He was stonewalled at every turn._

"_Just what is it that is so secretive that I cannot know? I was a part of the damn team!"_

_Tommy sighed, knowing that he likely would never get the answers he sought. That just made things even worse._

**End flashback**

Tommy still got nightmares about the island, sometimes. He tried so hard to get someone to head out to the island's location, but, as usual, he got stonewalled. But there was one thing that came out of this tragedy, however. He found several colored stones that he quickly determined were fragments of the meteor that had crashed into Earth tens of millions of years ago, and was responsible for the mass extinction of numerous species on Earth, including the last of the dinosaurs.

The stones Tommy found were Pink, Black, Yellow, Blue, and White. The significance of these colors was not lost on Tommy. Nor was the irony of him being thrust back into a world he tried so hard to put behind him. He wasn't a teenager anymore, and he certainly didn't want to become a Ranger again. He would take up the mantle, **if **there were no other alternatives. But he did not seek to don the spandex once more.

Something about the stones bothered Tommy, though. He noticed that while they were undoubtedly Ranger colors, Red was conspicuously absent. And since the other colors just so happened to correspond to those of the original team, he also noticed the absence of Green. This was not a pleasant situation to be in. He hoped that the Red and Green Gems were simply lost. But deep down, he knew that was not the case. Mesogog had to have obtained the two Gems. His heart sank when he came to that conclusion, as he had hoped to have finally left his legacy as the Evil Green Ranger behind him. Now it appears that it could come back to haunt him yet again.

"_No sense in worrying about something that can't be helped at the moment,"_ he thought to himself. He stepped inside the school to seek out the principal, and find out which periods he'd be teaching.

As Doctor Oliver was nervously looking around and greeting students, the very person he was seeking came up on him.

"Doctor Oliver. I'm Principal Randal."

"Oh, it's nice to meet you. It's your first day too, isn't it?" He held his hand out, but when he saw Randal wasn't going to shake it, he sheepishly put it down.

"_Great. You already made a bad impression."_

"Yes, and I'm still trying to figure out why a doctor of paleontology would come all the way to Reefside to teach science to teenagers." Randal gave Tommy a sideways glance as she finished.

"Guess I'm looking for some peace and quiet," Tommy said truthfully. After the life he's lived, even rowdy teenagers would count as peace and quiet.

"So you became a high school teacher? That doesn't really make a whole lot of sense, now does it Doctor Oliver?"

"You know, I was thinking. Maybe we should get together. This way you can fill me in on what you expect of me."

"I expect you to make it hard for them. Painful, if at all possible. If they smile, you know you're doing something wrong. Now, I'm off to find my first truant. We'll talk later." With that, Randal turned and walked away.

Tommy sighed. Maybe this wasn't going to be that much easier than running around in colored spandex for much of his life, after all. He entered his classroom and saw it was a disaster. Paper airplanes were flying around, girls were applying makeup, and it was quite loud. Had things really changed that much from when he was a teenager?

"_Not even five minutes in, and I already think I'd rather be battling some Tengas or Cogs. Great. Maybe Randal was right."_

"Guys, settle down, please. I'm Doctor Oliver, and this is first period science. Before we start, are there any questions?"

At that, a blonde haired girl shot her hand up, and Dr. Oliver acknowledged her. She shot up from her chair.

"Cassidy, Cassidy Cornell," the class groaned at that. A girl in a Yellow and grey long-sleeved shirt was seen rolling her eyes. "Dr. Oliver, as you may know, I'm the anchor and field reporter for our school TV station."

Now it was time for an African-American male in a Blue T-shirt to roll his eyes. The class groaned again, and Cassidy scoffed.

"Anyway, I'm sure our viewers are wondering: Well, you don't really look old enough to be a teacher. Devin, are you getting this?"

Tommy fought the urge to roll his eyes this time. Part of the reason he wore glasses was so he could actually look like he's over 25. He appreciated the compliments about not looking his actual age of 33, but this was ridiculous.

"Cassidy, I promise you, I'm old enough. Let's put the camera away. For now, let's talk about you guys, and what to expect of yourselves in this class. 'Cause that's what's really important."

Tommy glanced over, and noticed an empty seat.

"Is uh, someone missing?"

On the soccer field, a tall Caucasian kid in a red soccer uniform was practicing, while another kid was acting as the goalie. The goalie was shaking as the Caucasian kicked the ball into the net.

"You're supposed to try to stop it," the soccer player said.

"You sure we're not going to get into trouble for this? I mean, the bell rang, and it's the first day!"

The soccer player bit his bottom lip, which the goalie noticed. That did nothing to assuage his fears.

"If you want to leave, you can. But I have to keep practicing. It's all I'm good for, anyway," the soccer player said in a quiet voice.

"I've heard the new principal is crazy! She worked in a prison or something before she came here! Neither of us should be out here! Randal's insane!" As he was saying this, a middle-aged brunette with glasses, now identified as Principal Randal, came up behind the soccer player.

"Conner McKnight. Do you have anything to add?"

Conner turned around, and saw the principal with a smirk on her face. He shook his head. "No."

"Good. Now come with me." As Conner was about to follow Randal, the principal turned back to glare at the goalie, who was shaking even more than before.

"What are you looking at!" She snarled, and kicked another soccer ball into the goalie's stomach, sending him into the net. "Now get back to class!" The goalie dashed off at that.

In the middle of the field stood a redhead female teen who was clad in a Green T-shirt. The redhead was seeking signatures for a petition to cease the extension of the faculty parking lot that would require tearing down several trees in the adjacent forest to make room. As she was speaking with another student, the principal marched up to the redhead.

"Miss Prebble, you need permission to start a petition on school grounds. Come with me!"

The redhead glared at the principal. "You wouldn't give me permission! I sent in the request 3 times, and each time I sent it in, either you or someone in your office rejected it! I took matters into my own hands!"

The principal bore a victorious smirk. "So you admit to not having permission. You just added another day's detention to the total! Now come with me!"

The redhead glowered at the principal, but gave into the order.

While the principal was taking the condemned to her office, she came across a youth sitting on the grass, with his eyes closed. He appeared to be meditating, and Randal snarled. If there's one thing she hated, it's those peace types. Damn hippies were going to ruin everything. She marched up to the dark haired teen who looked decidedly Native American. Randal noticed he looked a lot like Dr. Oliver.

"Mr. Trueheart, you're late for class!"

The teen in white T-shirt opened his eyes and sighed. He got to his feet, and his near 6' frame towered over the principal, who didn't look impressed.

"I don't have a first period class, ma'am. I got here early, so I decided to get some meditation in. It's great for relieving stress, and is quite calming. You should try it sometime."

As soon as those words left his mouth, he knew it was a mistake. He wasn't insulting the principal, far from it. But he had heard that she had issues with anger, and he wasn't disappointed here.

"Is that right? Talking back to the principal? You've just earned yourself a detention, young man! Come with me!"

The young teen's mouth dropped open. He never received detention in his life, and he never got in trouble at school before. Whether it was on the reservation or in the "real world," as he heard some call it. He sighed; his father and Uncle were not going to like this one bit. He dipped his head and followed the principal.

In the shed where the grounds keeping equipment was located, the African-American male in a Blue T-shirt and his friend were looking around for company.

"OK, all clear. Check this out!" The African-American set his backpack up on a table, and pulled out his laptop. He then connected a cable to machine on the wall, with the other end connected to the laptop.

"I wrote a program, that generates a code so the sprinklers go off at different times every day!" He punched some commands into the laptop, bringing up a schematic of the school grounds. He continued punching in commands, and was finished. He and his friend laughed, and left the shed. The accomplice headed back to class, while the African-American stood by, wanting to see his handiwork.

On a table in the school field sat the dirty blonde in a long-sleeved Yellow and grey shirt holding a guitar. She was softly strumming the guitar and singing a song she had recently penned, which drew a small crowd. The crowd either sat on the bench at the table or the ground surrounding it. Some kids simply stood and listened. They were all impressed with her singing, as evidenced by the clapping she got when she finished. Just as they were clapping, the principal walked up to the blonde. She then pulled out a pen and wrote in the notebook she was carrying, and turned to the blonde.

"Miss Ford, I'm afraid you need written permission to play on school grounds. Let's go."

"Are you aware that kids who play an instrument have a 50% higher chance of getting into college?" The blonde retorted.

The brunette pulled her glasses down slightly and gazed at the blonde. "Well, you're hardly college material now, are you, Miss Ford? Now come with me!"

The blonde's mouth dropped open at the blatant swipe, and followed the principal in a huff. She noticed a guy in red following the principal, his gaze on the ground. The blonde recognized him as the school's star soccer player, Conner McKnight. She wondered why he looked so melancholy. She thought that guys like him were supposed to be extremely confident, to the point of arrogance, and cocky. But looking at Conner, one would hardly see a jock. In fact, if she didn't know any better, she'd swear he looked withdrawn, and perhaps even afraid. He tried to put up a front of nonchalance, but the songstress saw right through it. His behavior puzzled her, and unnerved her more than a little.

"_Why is he acting like this? What's happened to him?" _

"Krista," the blonde whispered to her friend. "What's up with Conner?"

Krista looked over at Conner, and sighed. She had seen this all too often over the years she had known the soccer player.

"I'm sorry Kira, but it's not my place to say. This is one of the things that he has to say himself," Krista said morosely.

Krista's tone wasn't lost on Kira. She knew Conner and Krista had been lifelong friends, so she had to know something. The tone hinted at something big, and Kira had a sinking feeling it was nothing good. The more she analyzed the soccer player's actions, the worse the feeling got. She started recognizing some of the signs he was exhibiting from research she did in her psychology class on victims of certain crimes, and Conner seemed to fit the bill. She warned herself to not jump ahead of herself, that she might have been over thinking things. But she decided to keep an eye on Conner.

As the principal and teens were being led to the slaughter, the sprinklers turned on, spraying teenagers and principal alike. They all screamed at the sudden appearance of the sprinklers, and the incessant spraying of the water was drenching Kira's guitar.

"That's just great!" Kira huffed as she tried to protect her guitar.

As everybody scrambled to get to cover, Randal saw the African-American youth walk by with a smug look on his face, and an umbrella in his hand.

"Ethan James," the principal practically snarled. "I should've known."

Five minutes later, the 5 youths were led into the school, and they stopped at the principal's office.

"You three, sit!" She screamed at Kira, Ethan, and the teen in White. She then turned to Conner and Krista. "I'll deal with you two in a minute!"

"Principal Randal, I'd just like to mention the fact that there's absolutely no hard evidence linking me to that unfortunate sprinkler incident."

"Save it for Judge Judy, Mr. James! The three of you have detention for a week!" Randal then turned to Krista and Conner.

"Same goes for you two! Starting today. Now if there are no further questions," Kira, Ethan, and the kid in White spoke at once. 

"I didn't think so!" Randal spat. She then stormed off.

"OK, somebody seriously needs a hug!" Kira huffed.

Krista, who was standing by Conner, noticed that the soccer player was starting to get an anxiety attack. She leapt into action, and quickly started calming him down. Kira saw this and jumped up.

"Krista, what's going on? What's happening?"

"Kira, stay back! I need you to stay back for now!" Krista said as she turned to her friend.

Kira didn't like this one bit; she may not be one of the cool kids, but she never liked seeing someone in pain. She knew Krista wasn't trying to hurt her, and that she likely knew how to handle the situation. So, Kira reluctantly sat back down, never taking her eyes off the two.

Ethan and the teen in White didn't know what to make of the situation. The teen in White narrowed his eyes; he had learned of the signs of abuse. This kid seemed to be exhibiting some of them. But the question is: Who was abusing him? And why wasn't he fighting back?

The teen in White mentally kicked himself. For all he knew, the soccer player may have actually tried, but things got worse.

Ethan was on edge. He may have been a self-proclaimed king of codes, but for all he knew, the soccer player could've been on his way to a stroke.

Ethan and the athletes of the school never got along. They were from entirely different worlds: they got all the girls, and had teachers pass them so they could play for their teams, and bring in the awards and accolades.

Ethan, on the other hand, was a loner. He was the nerd that got picked on by all the cool kids, and stayed away from parties, lest he be relegated to the dark corner.

That being said, Conner was never mean to Ethan. He didn't look down on him, make fun of him, or stuff him in his locker or a trashcan. Were they friends? No, but Conner never really let anyone be close to him. Ethan was starting to think that perhaps Krista is all Conner has. The beautiful redhead was finally able to calm Conner down, and Ethan somehow knew nobody else would've been able to. He shook his head. He wasn't sure he wanted to know what the soccer player went through to get like this.

"Dr. Oliver, how was your first day," Randal asked.

"The kids were great, no problem."

"Good! You're going to be seeing a lot more of them, in detention."

"Mind telling me what I did," Tommy joked.

Randal was unimpressed. "No, you're in charge of it today."

"Uh no, actually I have plans to go to a museum outside of town."

"Perfect! Bring the little monsters with you! That should be sufficient torture for them!" They came up on Kira, Ethan, and the kid in White.

"You've all met, I trust? Well, enjoy your little outing!" Randal exclaimed with glee. She then came up to Conner and Krista.

"I have a special job for you two." A predatory gleam was in Randal's eyes, and it startled Conner and Krista. "Come with me."

As Randal led Conner and Krista away, Tommy turned to the three, and was disappointed to see his nephew present.

"Eric? What did you do?"

"I don't know, I swear! All I was doing was meditating before my first class for the day. She came up and said I was late for first period, I told her I didn't have a first period class, and was using the time to meditate. I said it's good for clearing your head, and she said I was talking back. Then she said I had detention!" Eric exclaimed in one breath.

Tommy sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. His nephew wasn't the type to get into trouble, so he believed him. But it showed that Randal was one who could easily be crossed, and must be approached very carefully.

"What's dad going to say? I never got detention in my life!" Eric was a bit scared, and Tommy wasn't going to lie to his nephew; Tommy's twin brother David was down to Earth and straightforward, just like Tommy himself.

"He'll be disappointed, but once I explain the situation, he shouldn't blame you. Just make sure that you be more careful with what you around Principal Randal."

Eric solemnly nodded his head. Tommy sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time that day.

"C'mon guys." Tommy led the teens to his Jeep, and drove them to the museum he was going to go to. Once they got there, Tommy saw a chain up, cutting the path to the museum off.

"No museum for us, I guess," Eric said.

"Great! Let's go home," Kira said.

"Tell you what. You guys have a look around the grounds. If any of you guys find anything prehistoric, I'll cancel detention for the rest of the week."

"Sweet," Ethan said.

"I'm going to see if I can find someone who'll tell me when they're going to open up." Tommy approached the front door that had a sign with an insignia on it. Tommy read the sign.

"In case of emergency, call Anton Mercer Industries. Anton Mercer?" He shook his head. "That's impossible."

"Hey, did you guys hear about the guy who was hiking in this area and he fell in a giant sinkhole," Ethan asked.

"I don't think we have to worry about sinkholes," Eric stated. Kira and Ethan looked at him.

"They do exist, but we're far enough away from the ocean to worry about level drop, and there aren't any salt deposits found here. But, rainwater seeping through concrete and into piping could cause a sinkhole to occur. They are quite prevalent in Florida, due to massive rainfall via hurricane activity."

Ethan nodded, impressed. "Still, it was on all the urban legend websites. We'll probably slip into one ourselves soon if we keep going."

Kira looked at Ethan and shook her head.

"Hey, stuff happens. Don't blame me if you fall into a giant sinkhole."

As Ethan was saying that, the ground gave out from under Ethan, Kira, and Eric. When they got up, they noticed that they were in a structure not dissimilar from a cave.

"You guys stay here; I'll try to get some help." Eric exclaimed. He tried to grab a hold of some outcroppings on the wall to pull himself up, but he couldn't gain traction and came tumbling back down.

"Back already," Ethan cracked.

Eric sighed, as he and the others tried to find a way out. They came upon a dinosaur fossil embedded in the wall near a dead end.

"That looks pretty Jurassic Park to me," Kira said

"This will get us out of detention forever." Eric agreed. He pulled on the lower half of the jaw, ignoring Kira's protest, and the dead end slowly rose up into the ceiling to reveal a large room that was filled with computer equipment.

"I could do a crazy video in here," Kira gushed as she looked at the size of the room.

"This must be Nirvana to you," Eric joked to Ethan, who shrugged his shoulders, still in awe at the sheer volume of equipment present.

"When you're right, you're right!"

The teens noticed strange markings that looked like pronged reptilian footprints displayed prominently on the walls all around the room. They also noticed a smoking rock standing in the center of the room, sitting on top of a table. The rock had several indentations, along with Yellow, Blue, and White Gems. Eric cautiously reached out for the White Gem, as if it was calling to him. He pulled his hand back slightly, as if debating something. Ethan noticed this.

"Do you really think you should be touching that thing?"

"I…I don't know. I realize it may sound crazy, but I feel like this stone is calling out to me. Like a dormant instinct is being awakened." Eric exclaimed. Ethan frowned at this, yet slowly approached the smoking rock himself.

For her part, Kira didn't know what to think. But the more she looked at the rock, the closer she walked to it. Eventually, she realized she was practically on top of it, with a dazed look in her eyes. Ethan had the same expression.

The three teens reached out to the Yellow, Blue, and White Gems. As they did, the Gems glowed, and the teens knew what to do. They grabbed the Gems, and they felt a warm sensation flowing through them as the Gems continued to glow.

"What are they," Kira asked.

'I could go online later and find out," Ethan said.

"On second thought, it doesn't matter. I don't want to wait around here and find out what kind of freak lives here."

"Right with you," Eric said.

"Me too," Ethan added.

**Deserted island-same time**

"The Gems have moved," a prehensile hiss was heard, and the figure of Mesogog was seen. "Go. Fiiind them."

**Forest**

Once the teens were outside, they saw several hideous looking creatures in an attack stance. The teens gulped.

"What are those things," Eric asked.

"What do we do," Kira asked.

"I got an idea: **RUN!"** Ethan shouted.

The teens did just that, but were still eventually surrounded by the creatures. Eric had enough and got into an attack stance. Kira and Ethan looked at him like he was crazy, but he kicked the closest creature to him, sending it into a tree. The other creatures attacked, and Ethan and Kira stood there, paralyzed. They didn't understand why Eric did that, when these things vastly outnumbered them. But they willed themselves into action once they broke from their trance.

Eric was fighting near a tree and threw a creature off him. Suddenly, he found himself blending into the tree, and the creatures looked around, bewildered at the teen's sudden disappearance. As they were breaking off to search for him, Eric reappeared and kicked one of the creatures in the back, sending it sprawling down face first. Eric's hand was glowing, and he opened it to see the Gem glowing White. He got a flash in his head and saw a winged dinosaur separate but not too dissimilar from a Pterodactyl, and a figure in a White suit with black jagged edges and a shield on the front. He steeled himself and leapt back into battle.

Kira was trying to shake one of the creatures off of her when a small group approached her. She found herself lunging forward and opening her mouth, letting out a loud and terrible sonic scream, which knocked the creatures back and onto their backs. Her hand was glowing, and she opened it to find the Gem was glowing Yellow. She got a flash in her head of a Pterodactyl, as well as a figure in a Yellow suit with a skirt. She got a resound look on her face, and jumped back into the fire.

Ethan was trying to coax a creature into rushing him while Ethan was by a tree. He didn't notice one of the creatures sneaking up on him, but instinctively knew to throw his right arm up. The arm had a shimmer on it, and when the creature's blow was blocked, it was thrown back. Ethan looked down at his arms, which looked to now be covered in what appeared to be a form of armor. His hand was flashing, and he opened it to reveal the glowing Blue Gem. He got a flash in his mind of a Triceratops, and a figure in Blue. The creatures had enough and fled.

"Have I ever said how much I love detention?" Ethan gushed.

As the teens were wondering what was going on after stuffing the Gems in their pockets, Tommy was seen running up.

"Hey! Are you guys alright?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah; we couldn't be better," Ethan said.

"Nothing out of the ordinary happened," Tommy asked, skeptical of Ethan's nonchalance.

"Just your routine hike in the woods. Saw lots of furry little creatures," Ethan said.

"And a few scaly ones," Kira muttered. Tommy heard that, and looked puzzled.

"Uh, did you find out anything about the museum," Eric asked.

"They're still working the kinks out. We better get you guys back. Come on."

On the way to Tommy's jeep, the teens argue about why they didn't tell Tommy about what happened, with Ethan going on about what happens in science fiction movies.

After Tommy had dropped Ethan and Kira off at their homes, he took Eric home. As expected, David was not pleased with the fact that his son got detention for a week. But, he listened to Tommy's explanation, and agreed that Principal Randal was someone to be wary of. Eric's head was dipped, and he found the ground more interesting than the conversation, which made David tell his son that he wasn't upset anymore. But he re-emphasized his Uncle's warning about watching what he says around Randal.

The next day, Ethan, Eric, and Kira were heading to class, agreeing to not speak of what happened, when Kira said she had a better idea, and gave Eric the Yellow Gem. Not long after that, Eric and Ethan saw Kira being kidnapped by the same creatures they encountered yesterday. The two teens immediately agreed to head to Dr. Oliver's domicile, and after Ethan pulled up the address on his PDA, Eric drove to Tommy's house. Eric noted that the address put the house in the middle of the forest. After knocking on the door, there was no answer. Eric noticed the door was unlocked, and went inside. Ethan didn't feel it was a good idea, but followed anyway. While looking for Dr. Oliver, Eric noticed a small T-Rex model, and was about to pull down on the jaw when Ethan voiced his reluctance.

"He's a paleontologist, not…Batman," Eric finished quietly as a hidden staircase was revealed. Eric and Ethan went down the staircase and saw to their considerable shock that they were now in the same large room they discovered yesterday.

"If you're looking for extra credit, you're in the wrong place," Tommy said in a firm voice behind the teens, who then spun around.

"There's a reason we came here, Uncle." He took a deep breath and was about to explain when Ethan took over.

"Kira was taken by these weird dinosaur looking things," he explained. Tommy turned around slowly and closed his eyes.

"He doesn't look convinced," Eric said.

"They're called Tyrannodrones," Tommy announced.

"Oh, you know that because?"

"I helped build them."

"I see. School project?"

"It's a long story. For now, we need to figure out what they want with Kira."

"It may have something to do with these," Eric exclaimed as he and Ethan took out the Yellow, White, and Blue Dino Gems. Tommy's eyes widened when he understood the ramifications of this.

**Mesogog's fortress**

Kira started to stir in a chair when she heard a hissing voice say,

"Giive me the Gems'."

"Who's there? Come out so I can you!"

"Giive me the Gems'."

"Is this about jewelry? You've got the wrong girl. I'll occasionally wear a friendship bracelet, but…" Kira was cut off by the appearance of Mesogog.

"I've waited far too long to allow an insignificant teenager to stand in my way. Now, where are the Dino Gems?"

"Is this about those rock things we found in the cave?"

"Yessss," Mesogog hissed.

"I gave mine to Eric and Ethan. You'll have to ask them. Can I go now?"

Mesogog vanished, and Kira shuddered.

"That's it. No more cafeteria food!" She turned to see a woman in black saunter up to her, a look of indifference on her face.

"You'll be lucky if you ever see food again," she proclaimed, scaring Kira even more.

**Dr. Oliver's house**

"We're sorry, Dr. O. How were we supposed to know these things gave you abilities and weird dinosaur creatures would come looking for them?" Ethan asked.

"Well, I guess this isn't something you see everyday."

"Sort of like a science teacher with the ruins of an ancient civilization under his house," came Ethan's sarcastic retort. Tommy held back a smirk. Ethan was definitely a Blue Ranger, all right.

"Uncle, I think we both know what this entails. I know Dad won't like it, but as we've discovered, we can't choose." Tommy knew exactly what he meant, and nodded sadly- his nephew was wise beyond his years, but he wasn't keen about making him a Ranger. He knew David certainly wouldn't be thrilled about his son becoming a Ranger. But at least he'd know that Eric can handle himself; his Uncles Tommy, Jason, and Rocky, as well as his Aunt Trini had taught him martial arts. David became very close to all the former Rangers after discovering his twin brother back when Tommy was a Zeo Ranger, and is one of the few civilians in on the secret.

**Mesogog's fortress**

"You got a name? You kinda look familiar," Kira exclaimed.

"My master calls me Elsa," the woman said as she stepped forward as Kira stepped backwards.

"Your master? Whatever. Look, I'm going to let myself out."

Elsa grabbed Kira's shoulder, and a fight broke out. Kira was holding her own, and knocked Elsa away.

"Whoa! I so did not mean to do that!" Kira turned and tried to run out of the room, only to be stopped by a tall cyborg in black armor, shield, and a nasty looking ax. A group of Tyrannodrones was with the cyborg.

"Meet Zeltrax."

The cyborg stepped forward, and Kira felt herself being boxed in by the minions.

"You two dating, or just friends?"

Zeltrax attacked, and Kira let out a Ptera scream, knocking Zeltrax and the Tyrannodrones down. Kira took the opening presented and ran out of the room.

"After her!" Elsa screamed

Zeltrax and the Tyrannodrones got up and chased after Kira, who was running through a corridor. She saw a green glowing portal and brought her hand up to the portal, sucking her out of the fortress.

**On the road**

While on the road, Tommy explained how he and a friend, Dr. Anton Mercer, created the Tyrannodrones, and that they weren't supposed to be hostile; someone had clearly altered their programming. He also explained how he thought his and Mercer's research was destroyed after the lab got attacked after Mercer's disappearance, and that Mesogog appeared to be pursuing the Gems. Tommy stopped his Jeep at a stop sign.

"Look, this is highly fascinating, but how does that help us find Kira? I mean, she's not going to fall out of the sky and land in front of us."

As Ethan said that, a green glow appeared, depositing the hapless Kira on top of Tommy's Jeep. She looked up in confusion, and the guys jumped out of the vehicle to help her up. Ethan looked up at the sky in shock and awe.

"How did you do that," he practically gushed.

"I have no idea. One minute I'm getting chased by Frankenlizard in this creepy lab, and the next thing I know, I'm a hood ornament!"

"Invisiportals." Tommy said, putting two and two together.

"Whatever," Kira scoffed. "Next time, I'm calling a cab! What are you guys doing here?"

"We came here to rescue you," Ethan explained.

"Nice job. Way to show up when I don't need you! Anymore!"

An Invisiportal opened, depositing Zeltrax and the pursuing Tyrannodrones not 10 yards away.

"You sure about that," Eric asked. Tommy and the teens got into a ready stance.

"Mesogog find a new goon to do his dirty work," Tommy bit out.

"You are not fit to speak my master's name! Come with me peacefully, or suffer the consequences!"

"I'm going to have to say no."

The fight was on. Zeltrax took a swing at Eric with his ax, and Eric ducked under it. The teens fought the Tyrannodrones, as did Tommy. A Tyrannodrone kicked Tommy back into his Jeep.

"Looks like Mesogog made a few improvements," Tommy said.

The teens continued to take on the Tyrannodrones while Zeltrax targeted Tommy. Zeltrax kicked Tommy onto the ground.

"You're no match for me!"

Tommy got back up and fought Zeltrax back. The teens showed up behind Tommy and got into an attack stance.

"Make sure you tell your master Dr. Oliver's back," Tommy said.

"I will inform him this battle is over, but the war has only just begun!" Zeltrax and the Tyrannodrones were sucked up by an Invisiportal, and Tommy and the teens stood down.

"Is that the best he can do," Ethan spat out. Eric looked at Ethan.

"Don't get cocky! That was just one battle."

Ethan looked at Eric. That was the second time he heard Eric say something that didn't make a lot of sense to him, but he suspected Eric knew more than he was telling Ethan.

"Let's get going! It's getting late. I don't want your parents to worry," Tommy said.

"Dr. Oliver, what's going on," Ethan asked.

"I'll fill you in tomorrow after school. I promise."

The next day, Cassidy was questioning Kira about her new friendship with Ethan and Eric, people she never would've hung out with before, as well as the creatures that kidnapped her. Kira responded that she didn't know what Cassidy was talking about, as she was fine. But, she noted, Cassidy herself looked a little pasty, prompting Cassidy to curse fluorescent lighting. Dr. Oliver entered the class, told everyone to sit down, and was about to begin the lecture.

Suddenly, the school shook, and the students crowded the windows in the classroom, noticing the sky turned a very menacing pitch black, with lightning coursing across clouds that appeared out of nowhere.

**Downtown Reefside**

Zeltrax was seen in an aerial attack vehicle, getting in position to attack when he informed Mesogog of the latest developments.

"Hahahaha, the Bio-Zords are running free, master," Zeltrax exclaimed.

A dull White Dragozord, dull Yellow Pterazord, and a dull Blue Tricerazord were seen running through the city, trashing everything in their path. Civilians were fleeing, cars and buildings were destroyed, and rubble was falling all around. Some civilians got caught under some rubble, and some unfortunate souls did not survive the attack. Emergency workers and cops tried their best, but they were fighting a losing battle.

**Reefside High**

"Cassidy, you won't believe this," Devin came running into Cassidy's chemistry class.

"Let me guess? The sky just turned black in the middle of the day!"

"It did?" Devin looked outside and saw the sky an unearthly black. "Hello, Devin! What?"

"Oh right. I just heard this whack report about mechanical dinosaurs attacking downtown!"

Tommy turned to look at Devin as he said this. Cassidy and Devin were about to leave, when Dr. Oliver told them to remain in the class. Principal Randal said over the intercom that the Mayor had declared a State of Emergency, and to please remain calm, and proceed to the front of the school for immediate dismissal.

"Dr. Oliver, now might be a good time to have that little chat," Kira said.

"We're out of time. If Mesogog has revived the Bio-Zords, we've got to act fast! Come with me!"

"What's the worst that can happen," Ethan said sarcastically. Eric tilted his head in the affirmative as the teens followed Tommy back to his house.

"So these mechanical dinosaurs. They're your friends," Kira asked.

"Bio-Zords. Fusion powered replicants using actual dinosaur DNA for the neural functions."

"Let me guess: You helped build them," Eric pointed out.

"I'm afraid so. But now we," Tommy caught himself, and mentally kicked himself. "I mean you, have to tame them."

That set the teens into a frenzy, rattling off numerous concerns and questions about how. Tommy stopped them and picked up a silver briefcase.

"You can do this. But you won't have to do it alone," Tommy said.

"It's time now," Eric asked. Tommy looked to his nephew and nodded.

"Time for what? Why do I have the feeling you know a lot more than you're letting on," Ethan asked of Eric, who shrugged.

"It's a long story. Just listen carefully to my Uncle, because this is very important."

Ethan didn't like that answer; he completely dodged answering it.

"When I encountered the Dino Gems, I've had these waiting, in case I ever needed to harness their powers."

"Into what," Kira asked. Tommy opened the case, and 3 devices with a dinosaur head on them were displayed. They were Blue, Yellow, and White. The teens noticed several slots that were empty, and wondered about that.

"Dino Morphers. Use these to become Power Rangers."

"OK, I gotta sit down.

"We can't be Power Rangers! Aren't you supposed to fly or have super strength or something like that," Kira asked. Tommy looked at her.

"You do."

"Oh yeah, I forgot," Kira finished sheepishly.

"Your Gems are from the asteroid that crashed into the Earth eons ago, wiping out the entire dinosaur population. When I found them, I recognized their power and hid them, so that they wouldn't fall into the wrong hands."

"How do you know these are the right hands," Ethan asked.

"The Power chooses you; you don't choose it," Eric said. Ethan whipped his head to Eric.

"That's the third time you said something about this that doesn't make sense! What do you know about all this? What are you hiding," Ethan bit out.

"I already told you, it's a long story. When the time is right, you'll know everything."

"Could we worry about that later," Kira said, bringing the boys' attention back to Tommy.

"Eric's right, Ethan. The Gems are yours. You didn't choose them; they chose you."

"Can't they unchoose us," Kira asked.

"They've already bonded with your DNA; that's what's giving you your powers."

"So if they already bonded with us, how come Mesogog and his creeps are still after them," Ethan pointed out. Tommy sighed. This could make or break the team. But they deserved to know the truth.

"The only way these powers can be taken away is if you're killed."

"OK, for future reference, that's not a great selling point!"

"The Gems wouldn't have bonded with you if you didn't have something inside of you that couldn't handle the power. Please," Tommy finished, pushing the case with the morphers forward. Eric took the White morpher without hesitation. After some reluctance, Ethan and Kira took the Blue and Yellow morphers, respectively.

"So now what? Do we need some kind of secret password or command," Ethan asked.

"All you have to do is say Dino Thunder, power up, and you'll be transformed. You'll know what to do."

After some silence, Tommy continued.

"You three are from different worlds, I get it. But you have to work together, or this will never happen. This won't be easy. Nobody knows that better than I do. But you're going to have to believe in yourselves, because I believe in you," Tommy finished, looking each teen in the eye.

The teens steeled themselves and followed Tommy out to his Jeep, and he took them downtown, where the Zords stopped and looked at the new Ranger team. Zeltrax appeared out of a red Invisiportal.

"You'll have to get past me to get to those Zords!"

"Trust me, I'm looking forward to it," Eric exclaimed.

"You guys ready," Ethan asked.

"Oh yeah," Eric and Kira said in unison.

"Dino Thunder, power up, ha!"

The teens morphed into the Yellow, Blue, and White Rangers, and they were thrilled. It was a feeling unlike any they'd ever experienced.

"So you're Power Rangers," Zeltrax spat, making a fist.

"Call on your weapons! They're in your belt," Tommy explained.

"On it, Dr. O!" The belts shimmered, and the weapons were released.

"Nice! I got a Drago Sword," Eric said.

"I can come to grips with this! Ptera Grips!" Kira added.

"Sweet! A Tricera Shield!" Ethan exclaimed.

"Enough," Zeltrax spat, as an Invisiportal opened up, and a group of Tyrannodrones was deposited. The Rangers made quick work of the Tyrannodrones using their new weapons, although they took some hard hits in the process.

"Freeze," Ethan said to Zeltrax.

"You first! Hahaha," Zeltrax fired an energy rope that wrapped around the Blue Ranger. Zeltrax picked him up, and slammed him into the side of a building. Hard. Ethan fell, and he knew that was going to leave a mark.

"Ethan," Kira exclaimed as she ran up to him.

"Enough," Eric said. He raised his Drago Sword and used the super speed that appeared to come with the White Gem. He slashed Zeltrax repeatedly with the Drago Sword, striking him in an X fashion. Zeltrax flew back and landed on his back. He slowly got up, angered by the turn of events.

"You showed me your weapons, now meet mine!"

Zeltrax disappeared in a red Invisiportal, and the Zords turned back to the Rangers.

"Guys, you have to tame the Zords! Concentrate! Your morphers will communicate your thoughts to them!" Tommy explained. The Rangers nodded, and stepped towards the wayward Zords.

"Easy boy, calm down," Ethan exclaimed as he slowly approached the Tricera Zord.

"Ethan, be careful." Kira said.

"I'm your friend. Tricera Zord!" Ethan raised his arm to the sky, and the eye on the morpher flashed. The Tricera Zord lost its dull finish and took on a vibrant Blue.

"OK, my turn." Kira raised her arm to the sky, and the eye on the morpher glowed. "We can be friends, right?" The Ptera Zord lost its own dull finish and took on a vibrant Yellow.

"Eric, you've got to gain control of your Zord!" Ethan said as he and Kira saw the Dragozord firing its lasers on the freed Ptera Zord and Tricera Zord.

"Dragozord! We can work together, be partners!" Eric raised his arm to the sky, and the eye on the morpher flashed. The Dragozord lost its dull finish and became a vibrant White.

"Now Rangers, use the power of the Zords to defeat Zeltrax!"

The Rangers nodded, and leapt into their Zords.

"Logging on."

"Interesting cockpit," Ethan said as he looked around at the sparse accommodations of the Tricera Zord.

"Firing lasers," Eric said as the Drago Zord shot at Zeltrax's assault craft.

Zeltrax was about to respond in kind when he was summoned back by Mesogog. Zeltrax was not pleased, but did as he was commanded.

**Mesogog's fortress**

Zeltrax went into the lab where his lord was waiting.

"Master, why have you summoned me back? I could've crushed Oliver and the Rangers!"

Mesogog hissed angrily and used a psychic attack on Zeltrax, who groaned in pain, falling to his knees.

"Remember your place, Zeltrax! You answer to me! The Rangers have defeated us. You should have foreseen this development." Elsa laughed darkly, bringing Mesogog's attention to her.

"You are not without blame," he hissed, and sent a pain beam her way, as well. She fell to her knees, gasping at the agony of Mesogog's telepathic assault.

"Let this be a lesson. I do not take defeat lightlyyyy!"

**Tommy's house**

The newly minted Dino Rangers were in Dr. Oliver's basement. Tommy brought out a container with the three pronged footprint prominently displayed on the front, and opened it. Inside were silver bracelets with their respective Dino Gems in them.

"Keep these bracelets on you at all times. They'll act as your morphers when you need them. And, you can use these to communicate with me, and each other."

"Dr. O, I know you're real smart, and a science teacher and all, but how does, I mean?" Kira couldn't find the words to what she wished to convey, but Tommy understood what she wished to say.

"I'll fill you in, in time."

"Speaking of time, do you think Mesogog's going to stick around for awhile," Ethan asked.

"Unfortunately, they always do."

"They?" Kira asked. Tommy looked to her.

"I know this is a lot to take in. Your lives just changed in ways you couldn't have imagined. But as long as you work together, and remember you're a team, no one can defeat you. No one."

"Just one question, Dr. O: Aren't Ranger teams supposed to have a red Ranger to lead?" Ethan asked.

Tommy sighed. "The Red and Green Gems have yet to be found. I strongly suspect Mesogog has them."

"With that kind of power, he can be very dangerous," Kira pointed out. Tommy nodded.

"Exactly. Fortunately, he cannot tap into the power of the Gems. They have to choose their bearers. But he can manipulate the nature of the Gems, creating Rangers to do his own bidding," Tommy explained.

"Charming," Ethan drawled.

"Just remember that evil Rangers are not so by choice. They were either forced to act so, or they were turned by the villain of the time. Never hold an evil Ranger's actions against them, for they can't help it. Be there for them, and never give up hope. Friendship can turn the tide."

Kira couldn't help but wonder if she would've even become a Ranger had it not been for that infernal detention. And speaking of detention, Kira was wondering what happened to Krista and Conner. She didn't miss the predatory gleam in Randal's eyes, nor how Conner had been acting the entire time. She hoped they were all right…

**Mesogog's fortress**

"Master, I have a plan!" Elsa said as she walked into the lab. The dinosaur turned to his lackey.

"Wellll?"

"The Humans have a phrase: Fight fire with fire. We have the Red and Green Gems, and are corrupting them. What if we choose two of the Rangers fellow teenaged brats to wield the Power; teens the Gems would find worthy."

Mesogog leaned close into Elsa's face. "Perfect," he hissed. "Who do you have in minnndd?"

Elsa sneered as she brought up a visual of Krista and Conner on Mesogog's view screen.

"These two monsters should come in handy. Once we finish corrupting the Gems, the Rangers won't know what hit them!"

Mesogog leaned toward the screen, as if he could touch the teens from his lab.

"Excellent! Doooo it!"

Elsa sneered again as she looked back at the unsuspecting Conner and Krista, who were walking back to Conner's house.

"Get ready, brats! By the time we're done with you, you'll wish you were never born!"

With that, Elsa left the lab. She'll grab them when the Gems are ready to be claimed by those they chose, and Elsa was certain they'd choose Conner and Krista.

"_We can afford to be patient. We won't make the same mistakes Rita and Zedd did with Oliver and that blonde tart Katherine."_

**AN: **Conner and Krista won't become Rangers until after Tommy does. The one to claim the Pink Dino Gem will enter the picture very soon, but I haven't decided who to make the Pink Ranger: Kat or Kim.


	2. Chapter 2: Wave Goodbye

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Power Rangers, Saban does. I own all characters, places, and events not found in Dino Thunder.

**AN: **I will not be making a chapter for every episode of Dino Thunder, but will be writing some chapters that provide the background to certain events taking place in the fic. There will also be some alterations to the season, which will be made clear over the course of the fic. If you are weak of heart, this fic will not be for you.

Chapter 2: Wave Goodbye

Kira was seen walking up to an establishment. She saw a large sign above the brightly colored walls.

"Hayley's Cyberspace," she read aloud. She noticed Eric walking up.

"Eric!"

"Ethan called you to, huh?"

"Yeah, he said it was important. What is this place?"

"Only one way to find out," Eric said as the new Rangers walked inside.

Once inside, Eric and Kira saw teens idly chatting with each on a nearby couch, or eating, drinking, or working on computers that were set up in the cybercafé. The White and Yellow Rangers saw Ethan walk up to them, with a cat-caught-the-mouse grin.

"Here they are, my partners in crime (fighting,)" he said, whispering that last part so nearby civilians wouldn't overhear.

"So what's up," Eric asked. "You said it was super important."

"Nothing. I just figured if we were going to be hanging out, you should know what I'm all about," the Blue Ranger responded.

Eric and Kira shrugged. "Whatever. So what is this place," Kira asked.

"Welcome to my world. You can do everything here: chat online, listen to music, play games, eat, drink."

"So who came up with the idea for this place," Kira asked.

"That would be Hayley," Ethan responded, pointing to a beautiful redhead at the bar, who turned at that point to Ethan, having heard him. "She's a techno legend, MIT grad, programming genius. She got tired of working for big technology and decided to open this place."

"Good thing for you," Kira said.

Eric took another look around, and nodded. "Pretty cool. But what was so important?"

"I figured if we were going to be saving the world together, I wanted you to see what I'm about," Ethan said. Eric and Kira nodded, and Hayley came up to the Rangers.

"Hey guys. What can I get you?"

"I'll just have an apple juice," Kira said.

"Oh, that's easy. Kira, right?" 

"How did you know?"

"Oh, I'm all about information. It's my business. You sing, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Great, how 'bout this Friday, you and your band play here. We'll call it an audition."

Kira's jaw dropped, but she quickly recovered. "Well, yeah! That'd be great!"

"Great! See you then," Hayley said and she walked off after giving Kira her apple juice.

"OK, I love her!" Kira gushed.

"That's Hayley. There isn't a single kid in here she hasn't helped somehow."

"I have to restring my guitar," she said as she handed Ethan her apple juice, not having taken even a sip.

At that moment, a couple came in. They appeared to be in their early thirties. The man was Hispanic, while the woman was African-American. Hayley quickly greeted them and got their orders, when Ethan and Eric's Communicators chimed. The couple's eyes widened when they heard that; they knew a Ranger summons when they heard it. They watched the two youths look around discreetly, and head to an alcove where some computers were located. The alcove was free of customers, and there weren't any customers nearby. The couple kept a close eye and an open ear.

"Go Dr O, you got Ethan and Eric."

"Ethan, Eric, can you guys meet me in an hour at the end of Riverside Road?"

"Yeah, sure. What's up?"

"Just be there, and I'll fill you in."

Ethan left the Cyberspace, leaving behind two shocked former Rangers. They didn't expect a team to be here, although they should've guessed. Evil seems to be everywhere, and relentless. They exchanged looks with each other.

"'Sha, you heard that voice, right?"

"I did, but it couldn't have been. Could it? Not here?"

"I don't know. That guy did sound and act like a certain multicolored colleague. He just can't say no to this, can he?"

Unbeknownst to them, Hayley had heard everything and narrowed her eyes. She didn't like the way they were talking; there was a reason Tommy kept his operation secret from everyone but a very small handful of people. It's not as if he _wanted_ to get back into this, but the Power clearly had other plans for the good Doctor. She recognized the two: They were Rocky and Aisha DeSantos, the world's second Red and Yellow Rangers. Rocky was a notorious blabbermouth, and she didn't want word of Dino Thunder getting out, lest two certain former Pink Rangers show up. Tommy's relationships with the two Pinks did not end well, and didn't need go through that again. If Hayley had anything to say about it, he wouldn't. She chose that moment to walk up to them and act as if she heard and knew nothing, their drinks and sandwiches on a tray in her hands.

"Here you go, guys. I hope you enjoy them."

She walked away and got the orders for a table not too far away. It was convenient, as they were the last orders for the day, as she had already sounded last call before getting the orders. It also would allow her to see if the DeSantos would continue their earlier conversation; she never like spying, and tried to avoid it. But she had to know if they were merely curious about a seemingly familiar voice, or if they were going to try to find out. To her dismay, it was the latter. She sometimes cursed having impeccable hearing. Now she had to warn him without tipping those two off, which wouldn't be easy. She noticed gold badges on their belts from the Reefside Police Department, which would make the married couple Detectives.

"_Well, I didn't get a Master's from MIT by being dense."_

About 15 minutes later, the Cyberspace was closing down for the night, and the Detectives left, after telling her they enjoyed the food and drinks. She smiled and thanked them. When they left with the other guests, the smile disappeared. After sweeping the Cyberspace for any surveillance devices that she didn't install and finding the place was clean, she pulled out her cell and called Tommy.

"Hey Hayley. What's up?"

"I'm afraid to say this isn't a social call. Are you alone? This is something that shouldn't be discussed around those not of the color order."

There was a pregnant pause, and Hayley knew she had to tell him. But it certainly didn't make things easier.

"OK, I'm alone now. What's going on," he asked, instantly reverting to leader mode. It was moments like that this had shown Hayley why Tommy Oliver was so feared by evil forces.

"Two of your former teammates stopped in and overheard you contact Ethan and Eric. They're a little too curious, and I overheard them say that they're going to try to find out if it was you. And Tommy, they're Detectives with Reefside PD."

She heard Tommy exhale sharply. "Who were the two?"

"Rocky and Aisha."

"_Fuck!"_

Hayley blinked. She rarely, if ever, heard Tommy swear. But she couldn't blame him in this case.

Tommy sighed. "Aisha may be OK, although I can't say for certain. She was friends with pretty much everyone, so there is the possibility that she _could _say something. But I know for a fact that Rocky would shoot his big mouth off. And once everyone settles down, they'll start asking questions I don't think I can answer. I can't go underground, as I can't leave the team in the lurch." She heard him sigh. "I don't know what to do here. The others wouldn't understand that none of this was of my own volition, the same annoying jokes would be said, and then certain parties would lay the guilt trip on me!"

It was Hayley's turn to sigh. "I know. Wish I had answers myself, but I'm coming up with nothing. But I had to at least warn you."

"I appreciate it, Hales. Bye."

"Bye."

The two hung up, and Hayley continued cleaning up. She sighed again. She really needed to hire someone to help out around the place.

Tommy headed back into his house after getting off the phone with Hayley.

"_I should've known someone would come by sooner or later. I never did have good luck." _

That couldn't possibly be more accurate. Right after Ethan and Eric got there, Elsa and Zeltrax ambushed the three, hoping to get the Dino Eggs that Tommy had located about an hour's drive from his house. The eggs hatched into man-sized raptors that Tommy dubbed the Raptor Riders. But training them was going to take some work, and a lot of patience, as they trashed his basement. He was supremely lucky they didn't any of his equipment, although they did set some of his work back at least 2 weeks. Then there's this mess with Rocky and Aisha. He didn't know what to do about that. He wanted to keep everyone out of this, especially since he started to doubt the intentions of at least some of the parties investigating the incident on the island. He was hardly a conspiracy theorist, but some of the questions and actions reeked of a cover-up. He wondered what was being hidden, and why they weren't letting him in on anything.

"_Unless they suspect me of something. Could they know of Dino Thunder? Who are these people working for? What do they want? And how do I shoo off Rocky and Aisha without raising even more questions?"_

As these questions flashed through his mind, he knew he needed to at least try to relax. He went into the kitchen, grabbed a beer from the fridge, and made a sandwich. If he couldn't answer any of the questions, he could at least try to relax somewhat. He sometimes wondered when everything got so complicated. He wanted to put his Ranger past behind him, and start off fresh. That certainly didn't happen. Now he was the mentor of a new team, his own research was being used against him, and to make matters worse, the enemy has two of the Gems. He just hoped whoever received the Gems would be able to fight the corrupting influence. Having been under more than his fair share of evil spells, he knew the poor souls were going to be in for one Hell of a ride, and they were going to need all the help they could get during their tenure as Evil Rangers, and immediately afterwards. If it weren't for Kimberly, Jason, Zack, Billy, and Trini not giving up on him, he probably would've wiped out the Rangers. He was the closest an Evil Ranger ever came to killing the Power Rangers. And despite everyone saying it wasn't his fault, a part of him never forgave himself for everything he did. To this day, he still has nightmares. He can't go to a psychiatrist, as there aren't any Rangers, current or former, who are in that profession. And he certainly wasn't about to tell a civilian about his Ranger past. Hypnotherapy was out for the same reason. In essence, Tommy was screwed. And now two more hapless souls would be forced to go through their own personal slice of Hell. Tommy resolved to try to get **some** sleep tonight, and see if he can come up with something then.

"_At least tomorrow is Friday," _he thought.

**Hayley's Cyberspace-Friday**

At the Cyberspace, Kira was setting up for her gig today. She still had 45 minutes before they started, but she wanted to make sure everything was perfect. Once she was satisfied that everything was to her liking, she went to the bar and asked for an apple juice, which Hayley provided free of charge. It's to wish her luck, Kira was told.

The front doors opened, and Krista and Conner entered. Conner took a look around the place, and was impressed. Krista said her Aunt owned and operated this establishment, and Krista wanted to show it off. Plus, she rationalized, it would help get Conner's mind off his father's visceral reaction to him getting detention for a week. She heard the screaming, and she wasn't certain, but she could've sworn she heard a heavy crash. And with the way Conner winced when pressure was applied to his lower back, she had the sinking feeling his father struck Conner, hard. As far as she knew, that would've been the first. But now that she thought about it, there were plenty of other times Conner had mysterious injuries that he never really explained. He kept saying things like 'I fell down the stairs,' or some other garbage.

"_Was I completely wrong this entire time? Had he been physically abused all this time?" _

Hayley walked up to the two, and asked if they needed anything. Krista ordered a ham and cheese for both of them, a strawberry smoothie for Conner, and a honeydew smoothie for herself. It wasn't too busy, so Hayley didn't need to ask for her niece's help around the place. Krista had always said she'd be happy to help, if she needed the assistance. Hayley was starting to think she should hire Krista; she knows the place, the people, and how to make everything, having watched Hayley several times. But for now, Hayley was fine, and she got their orders.

As Krista and Conner were sitting down at a table, Krista noticed the sunlight showcasing a nasty purple and brown bruise on his arm.

"Conner, what's that," Krista asked, pointing to the bruise.

"It's nothing," he replied, quickly rolling his sleeves down. He mentally cursed himself for letting the bruise be shown. He didn't think it'd show up if his sleeve wasn't rolled up all the way. But Krista always had a sharp eye.

"It didn't look like 'nothing' to me. What happened?"

"Nothing. I lost my balance and bruised my arm when it hit the island in the kitchen," he replied truthfully. What he didn't want to say was that he lost his balance because his foster father punched him in the side of the head, twice. His foster father always got bellicose when he was drunk, as he was yesterday, and the day before. Conner suspected he got a concussion from his caretaker's assault, knowing that dizziness was one of the symptoms.

Krista frowned. She knew Conner well enough to know when he was lying, or not saying the whole truth. "You can trust me, Conner. What happened?"

"Please, just drop it. I'm fine."

Krista shook her head. She knew she wasn't going to get anything more out of him, so she agreed to table the discussion-for now, at least.

Meanwhile, Kira and Hayley were approaching the table when the two were having their chat, and heard and saw everything. Kira wanted to say hi to Krista, while Hayley was bringing their food and drinks. But they stopped and couldn't speak or move during Krista and Conner's talk. For Kira, this was a confirmation of her fears. She had hoped, even prayed, that she was wrong. But now she knew she wasn't. And she didn't know what to do. She didn't have any conclusive proof Conner was being abused, only overhearing a conversation and her own suspicions and observations. Circumstantial, at best, she thought. She didn't want to waste the cops' time, but on the other hand, this will continue unless it's stopped. Kira felt helpless. She always _loathed _being helpless. And her parents felt the same, thus they enrolled her in martial arts classes when she was a little girl. Kira stuck with it, and now she could hold her own against opponents twice her size. But this was a different matter entirely, and now she was helpless. Perfect. Just as she was about to break out of her stupor and put her own two cents in, Hayley reminded her that she had a performance to give, and that as insensitive as it may sound, for the moment, they couldn't do anything. Kira shot a look to the Cyberspace's proprietor, who merely held up her hand, and clarified that it was merely for _that moment. _She reminded Kira of the corruption scandal at Reefside PD, and the songstress looked down sheepishly, chastised. Hayley continued saying she'd hunt down two Detectives who showed up there yesterday, and that she has a strong hunch they could be trusted. Kira knew there was nothing more they could do, so she let Hayley lead her to the stage after Hayley gave Conner and Krista their meal.

For Hayley, the sight and talk was heartbreaking. She had always heard of victims who didn't want to talk about what happened, for fear that it'd happen again, or something worse. Conner was just a teenager-still a kid. Yet Hayley wondered if that was true, anymore. Was he still a kid after his father had been abusing him? Did he have any innocence remaining? Hayley sighed, and looked at the dirty blonde, who looked to be debating her options. Hayley knew what had to be done, although she didn't know if there was any proof of any impropriety outside of some circumstantial evidence. Circumstantial or not, however, Hayley had a responsibility, and she was going to live up to it. If those two Detectives from yesterday came back, she could talk to them. She didn't want to, as it could complicate matters even more. But there was no other option as far as she was concerned. Reefside PD had a bit of corruption problem lately, and she didn't know whom to trust. At least she knew she could trust former Rangers. Now the trick would be throwing them off Tommy's trail. He had shared his suspicions with her, and she couldn't help but agree with them. Something was very fishy, and the less people on the outside to get involved, the "easier" things might be. If something like this could ever truly be easy. She decided to track down the DeSantos couple after Kira's performance. But first things first, she knew. She gave Conner and Krista their meal and brought Kira back to the stage to introduce her to the patrons of the Cyberspace.

Ethan and Eric were wondering where the good Doctor was, knowing he was supposed to be there. Eric said that he was probably running late; his Uncle was notorious for that when he was their age, judging by stories from his father. Ethan shrugged his shoulders and accepted it. He was still shocked that Eric was Dr. O's nephew, but the resemblance was far too close to be ignored. Eric explained Dr. O and his father are twins, so it would explain his own appearance.

School was actually relatively quiet, and Tommy was in a good mood. He got some decent sleep last night, the students paid attention, nobody failed their quizzes, and Mesogog and his goons haven't attacked.

"_Not yet, anyway," _Tommy said to himself.

Just as he was about to walk inside the Cyberspace, an Invisiportal opened, and some Tyrannodrones appeared with Zeltrax right behind Tommy. They grabbed him by the shoulders before he could react, and disappeared with him back through the Invisiportal.

"_Me and my big mouth," _was Tommy's last thought before being rendered unconscious from a blow to the back to the head.


	3. Chapter 3: Legacy of Power

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Power Rangers, Saban does. I own all characters, events, and places not found in Dino Thunder.

Chapter 3: Legacy of Power

**Mesogog's Fortress**

Mesogog was seen hunching over a table sending mental waves to a large opaque substance similar to amber, trying to extract an item he covets.

"I will have it," the prehensile creature hissed as he continued to use his mental wave. The doors to the main room opened as Zeltrax and some Tyrannodrones were seen dragging Tommy in.

"My lord! The prisoner," the cyborg exclaimed as he motioned to Tommy.

"Finally! Tie him to the Life Force Extractor!" The Tyrannodrones dragged a struggling Tommy over to a chair and strapped him down as Tommy tried to get some answers from Mesogog.

"What do you want of me?"

"How rude of me not to explain," Mesogog said. "My sensors tell me this stone encases a power source that will be most useful to me. Alas, all my efforts to retrieve this power source have been less than successful. That's where you come in," he finished as he turned his head slightly to Tommy.

"Sorry, can't help you there. I'm just a high school science teacher," Tommy said, applying the Tommy wit that his friends have come to love and hate at times. Mesogog leaned into Tommy's face as he said his next bit.

"Really? A high school science teacher, that just has happened to have taught three brats to become Power Rangers. I know you know what's inside this stone," the dinosaur said as the stone glowed as Tommy was gazing at it. "You're going to help me get it out, or you will not like the consequencesss," he finished as he adjusted a large pointed device hanging from above at Tommy's chest. The device started powering up as Tommy struggled and Zeltrax watched from behind the chair. As the stone continued to glow, Tommy had to sigh. Mesogog was right: Tommy did know what was in the stone, and more importantly, he knew what it represented.

"_When can I get away from this shit," _he thought miserably. _"Why can't I ever get away from this damn job!" _

Getting the stone away from Mesogog was important, and by now, Hayley and the Rangers were searching for him, he knew.

"_How do I always manage to get into these situations?" _

**Tommy's house-Dino Rangers Command Center**

"This is bad," Kira said from inside the Command Center of the Dino Rangers.

"Way bad! Worse than crashing to level 9 on SNSW," Ethan agreed.

Eric looked to Ethan. "What?"

"Super Ninja Space Wars," the Blue Ranger said.

Eric sighed; leave it to Ethan to make a computer game reference at a time like this. But, the White Ranger figured, that's the way Ethan is, so he'll go with it.

"Dr. O doesn't show up for my gig, then misses an entire day of school without calling. Why aren't you freaking out," Kira asked as she turned to Eric.

"My Uncle has a knack for getting out of very sticky situations. He's been doing it for more than 15 years. I am worried, but with our help, I've no doubt he can get out of this one, too."

"I guess there's only one to find out what the good Doctor has been up to," Ethan said as he turned to Tommy's computer. He was about to try to pull up anything that could help when Eric stopped him.

"No! I will not let you get into my Uncle's system! It should be a family member that does this," he said. Ethan raised an eyebrow.

"You still haven't told us what your role in all this is," Ethan grumbled as he looked at the White Ranger, who was already pulling up a video file. Eric put a hand to his head; he knew the Blue Ranger understandably had questions, but he was starting to give Eric a big headache.

"_I guess this is how Rita felt all those years that my Uncle and his friends thwarted her plots," _he thought to himself.

"Just sit down, shut up, and watch. You're about to learn."

Ethan shrugged his shoulders as he grabbed a chair and Kira grabbed the one by the computer while Eric sat in the chair at the computer. The video file began with Tommy starting the recording.

"I'm Tommy Oliver. If you're not me, then something is seriously wrong. This video diary is a confidential record only to be viewed in case of an emergency." Kira and Ethan got curious at this. "What you're about to see is a history of my life."

"What history," Ethan asked as he turned to Eric.

"Just keep watching. All will become clear."

"My history as a Power Ranger."

Then hit pause on the video as he and Kira looked at Tommy's nephew.

"You knew! You knew all along," Ethan accused the White Ranger, who merely nodded.

"Yes, I did. That's why I know what I'm talking about. When I was old enough to at least understand the basics, my Uncles and Aunts told me about their past as Rangers. As you're about to see, my Uncle Tommy has had an illustrious Ranger career." Ethan was even more curious as Eric continued the video.

"My story begins in Angel Grove, when five teenagers with attitude were recruited to fight the evil space sorceress, Rita Repulsa." The video showed Jason, Trini, Billy, Zack, and Kimberly being recruited. "They harnessed the power of the dinosaurs to become Earth's first Power Rangers. Under the guidance of intergalactic being Zordon, Trini, Zack, Kimberly, Billy, and Jason bravely defended Earth, which forced Rita to create her own Ranger."

"OK, so where's Dr. O," Kira asked. The video continued as a younger version of Tommy met Kimberly at Angel Grove High, being kidnapped by Rita, and becoming the Evil Green Ranger. "Her evil magic was too strong; I couldn't fight it. She commanded me to destroy the Power Rangers. And I almost succeeded." The video showed Kimberly confronting Tommy at the Youth Center, saying she knew he was the Green Ranger. Tommy's eyes glowed Green, and he threatened her. "But my friends never gave up. They helped me destroy the Sword of Darkness, and I was freed." Tommy was shown joining as the Green Ranger. "And that's where I joined the team. But not for long. I soon discovered the Green Ranger Powers were only temporary."

"_That's not exactly accurate. They were ripped from him, as Rita punished him for joining my Aunts and Uncles,"_ Eric thought

The video continued, as it showed Tommy returning as the first White Ranger. Ethan paused the video.

"What did you do that for," Kira asked.

"Because I'm so bugging I can't even deal! I mean, our teacher is the oldest living Power Ranger!" Eric scoffed, as if age had anything to do with it.

"He's not the oldest," Eric started.

"Just the best," Hayley finished as she stood at the bottom near the secret entrance.

"Hayley," Ethan asked as he and Kira looked shocked.

"How did you get in here," the Blue Ranger asked.

"More to the point, what do you know about all this," Kira added.

"I know that Tommy is in trouble, and you three are the only ones who can help him."

Ethan turned to Eric, who looked nonplussed. "You're not surprised about this, either," he said, a statement more than a question. Eric nodded.

"I've been helping Tommy prepare the Ranger energies since Grad School. Who do you think built the morphers? I mean, Tommy's good with dinosaurs and fossils, but a rocket scientist, he ain't. It's one of the few things he's not," she finished grumbling.

"And you are," Ethan asked and Hayley nodded.

"Among other things." Hayley turned to Eric. "I've seen your design for the project. It's quite brilliant. Just a few bugs have to be taken care of, but it should work."

"I know. I should have the updated specs in your email by the end of tomorrow. The one you have was just a rough draft."

Ethan's head whipped to Eric. "You're not surprised about Hayley's appearance. And what project?"

"No, I'm not surprised with her appearance. I helped her and my Uncle set all this up. And as for the project, well you'll see in time."

"What else do you know? How many more secrets are you hiding from us," Ethan asked with narrowed eyes. Eric rolled his eyes.

"Relax already. You've already learned much of what I knew from the video. Just continue watching to find out more."

Kira intentionally brought the conversation back to Tommy. "OK, so you know who we are. You know what we are. Do you know where Dr. Oliver is?"

"I have a pretty good idea." She pulled out a disc and inserted it into the disc drive. "This is a surveillance tape from the day of your gig, Kira." The video showed Tommy being kidnapped by Zeltrax and the Tyrannodrones.

"Why didn't he just morph? He's a Ranger, for Christ's sake," Ethan said. Eric rolled his eyes.

"Not anymore. Or didn't you get that far?" Hayley continued the video, which showed Serpentera using its ultimate weapon on a deserted planet the Rangers were on, while they were procuring the Sword of Light.

"A new villain, Lord Zedd, was destroying Earth. And with 3 Rangers leaving, a new power source had to be found. Trini, Zack, and Jason passed on their powers, and 3 new Rangers stepped forward. And just in time, because Rita and Zedd teamed up to form a most powerful enemy yet, bringing with them a new terror, Rito." The video showed the Thunder Zords being destroyed by Rito Revolto, Rita's brother. "The new team fought bravely, but it wasn't enough. Rito destroyed our Zords. A Ranger never gives up! Zordon sent us on a quest to find Dulcea, a warrior from the past who showed us the secrets of the ancient Ninjetti. Our quest complete, we gained new weapons, new Zords, and new enemies. But along with new enemies came new friends. When Kimberly chose to leave, Katherine was the only choice."

Eric sighed. Hayley paused the video. She knew why Eric was sad, as he was always close to his Uncle, and knew of Tommy's past with Kim and Kat.

"They hurt him," Eric whispered. "They both hurt him deeply."

Hayley sighed; this was why she didn't want Rocky and Aisha to find out about Dino Thunder. It's bad enough the others will undoubtedly be asking questions that he can't answer or doesn't know the answers to himself, but also because the Pinks would show up, and it'll open festering wounds. Hayley hated how Kat left Tommy after she knew the effects of Kim leaving him in a similar manner. And Eric shared his Uncle's discomfort, even though he genuinely likes both Pinks.

Ethan watched the scene with trepidation; he sensed there was much more to this story than was being told. This happened as soon as this Katherine woman was mentioned.

"_Now that I think about it, I did see him flinch when that Kimberly person was mentioned, too. What happened with those two women?"_

Kira was watching with here eyes narrowed. She got the feeling Eric was close with his Uncle, but she didn't understand why Eric was reacting like this when these 'Kimberly' and 'Katherine' women were mentioned. The Yellow Ranger started to feel like her teacher was closer to the women than just friends.

"_Dr. O never mentioned a Kimberly or Katherine. He also hasn't talked about his Ranger past. Why? What happened with those two Pinks? And what does Eric know about it?"_

Before she could stop herself, Kira heard herself say, "What happened with Dr. O and Kimberly and Katherine?" She winced as she saw Eric's shocked look turn into unease.

"It's not my place to say. And I wouldn't recommend asking my Uncle about it, either."

Kira turned to Hayley, who shook her head; she wasn't about to talk about it. She still fumed whenever she thought about how the two Pinks treated Tommy. Rather than prolong the pregnant pause, Hayley silently continued the video, bringing Eric's thoughts and attention back to the video.

"Katherine assumed the Pink Ranger power, and just in time. We were under attack. We got out just as Rita and Zedd succeeded in destroying the Command Center. Beneath the ruins, we found the Zeo Crystal, a mystical power that guided us into the next chapter of our lives as Rangers. The Zeo powers were awesome, but when we needed reinforcements, we turned to an old friend. Jason returned, and assumed the power of the Gold Ranger. With high school graduation, we were ready to face the world. But not before going on one last adventure as Rangers. It was time to sift into a higher gear. The old Rangers were gone forever, and the Turbo Rangers were born. A space pirate named Divatox launched an attack on Earth, and we were given the powers of Turbo and took her head-on. TJ, Cassie, Ashley, Chris, and Carlos proved they had what it takes."

Hayley paused the video. "After that, Tommy went to college, where he met yours truly. But when he found the Dino Gems, he knew he couldn't escape the Power for long."

"_Even if he wanted to leave this life behind," _both Hayley and Eric thought.

"Saying as how I don't want this to be the end of the line, can we get back to the subject of finding Dr. O," Ethan asked.

"I just thought of something. What about Invisiportals? They're all over the city. If we can find one, we can get into Mesogog's lab," Kira pointed out.

"I've been working on that very thing. Unfortunately, I just need a little more time." Hayley turned to Eric. "Could you look over these equations while I'm working on finding an Invisiportal?" The White Ranger nodded and sat next to Hayley, getting to work on the equations she started.

"OK, what are we supposed to do while you're doing that?"

"Learn more about our heritage. You might be surprised what you'll find," Eric said, not looking up from the equations.

"What about you? Aren't you going to watch this," Kira asked.

Hayley responded for Eric. "He already knows all this. He helped Tommy compile the footage and put together the video."

"OK, what hasn't he had his hands in," Ethan asked with a bit of an edge to his voice. Eric's patience was wearing thin with each swipe.

"Look, I don't know what I did to make you so upset with me, but could you please knock it off?"

"I don't know. How do we know we can trust you? You haven't been straightforward with us from the moment all this started!"

"Hey, don't drag me into this! He hasn't done anything to raise my suspicions," Kira said.

"Ethan, the reason he couldn't say anything was because he was sworn to secrecy by the preceding Ranger teams. He was just keeping his word. And yes, he has helped with much of the work Tommy and I have done, because he likes to, and he has the intellect. The first Blue Ranger, Dr. Cranston, has taken Eric under his wing, and it has helped tremendously. With the help of Dr. Cranston, Tommy, myself, and Eric have put together everything you see in this basement. _Everything,_" Hayley finished with emphasis on everything. Ethan's sails deflated at that, and Hayley silently wondered why the Blue Ranger was acting so hostile towards his teammate. She shook her head free of those thoughts and continued the video as Eric was already back to working on the equations.

"Divatox was tough, and the Piranhatrons were relentless. Divatox wasn't ready to give up, and staged a fearsome attack, taking out the Turbo Rangers' Command Center, and their powers with it. She headed to space, and Earth's ultimate destruction. The Rangers knew they had to follow Divatox into space, and embarked on the most dangerous mission, leaving behind the world they knew forever.

The journey into space was treacherous, and the line between friend and foe is a thin one. Andros proved he was more than a friend. He was just the kind of leader they would need to fight a new enemy. An enemy called Astronema. They thought they had no hope, but Andros brought them the Astro Morphers, bringing forth a new team. The Space Rangers freed Zhane from deep freeze, and the Silver Ranger was a noble addition to the team. Together, they defeated Astronema, and Earth was safe.

But deep in space, another battle raged. On the distant planet of Mirinoi, five new heroes Leo, Damon, Kendrix, Maya, and Kai retrieved the Quasar Sabers, and were chosen to become the Power Rangers of the Lost Galaxy. They would have to combine their powers if they were to defeat their mortal enemy, Trakeena. Trakeena threatened to destroy the space colony Terra Venture, and took on a horrifying new form. Red Ranger and his Battlizer were the colony's only hope. With Trakeena destroyed, the people of Terra Venture were forever grateful to the Rangers of the Lost Galaxy.

Meanwhile on Earth, an elite team was being put together to fight a new battle against an invasion of demons. The Lightspeed Rangers would need one more to complete their mission. That's when Ryan joined the team. " The video briefly paused as the computer beeped an alert.

"Hey! I was watching that," Ethan exclaimed.

"Sorry, but I've got something."

"You found my Uncle," Eric asked as he looked up from his work.

"Almost. I've got a lock into the back door into Mesogog's firewall. In theory, it should lead straight to an Invisiportal."

"Then what," Kira asked.

"I'll let you know when I get there," Hayley said.

**Mesogog's fortress**

"Once I access the power in this rock, my dream of returning the planet to its prehistoric roots will be a mere formalityyy." Tommy rolled his eyes.

"Why can't you just want to rule the Earth like all the other sickos" he cracked.

" Are you going to tell me how to open that stone, or not?" Mesogog leaned into Tommy's face again as he spoke.

"Take a wild guess," Tommy scoffed.

Mesogog hissed and pressed a button. The Life Force Extractor started to glow pink.

"_All bad things come in Pink, it seems," _Tommy thought bitterly.

"Have it your way. Why are they always so stubbornnn?"

**Dino Rangers Command Center**

"So, what's happening," Eric asked, now enthralled with Hayley's work.

"Either I'm losing my touch, or Mesogog is really smart, for a mutant freak!"

The computer switched back to the Ranger footage.

"What's it doing now," Kira asked.

"It's retrieving more Ranger history," Hayley said. Eric bit back a laugh at the irony of that statement, and Hayley cracked a smile.

"Walked right into that one, I guess," she said to Eric.

Ethan paused the video as he heard the Pink Ranger, Jen, say she and her friends were from the year 3000.

"Whoa, hold up! Power Rangers who came from the future," Ethan said.

"They're down with time travel and everything, right? Couldn't they take us back to the moment when Tommy was kidnapped?"

"It doesn't work that way," Eric said. The others looked at him.

"Could you explain, please," Kira asked.

"Jen once told me that it doesn't go back to specific moments, only periods. They could come back to our time, but there would be no way for them to arrive just before my Uncle was taken. They're still refining the process, so they may have the ability soon. It just won't help us now," Eric said. The others sighed. It was worth a shot. The video continued.

"Rangers from the future chased a criminal through time. But it took a modern day hero to finish the job. It took a while for Eric to learn that the greatest virtue of being a Ranger wasn't the power, but the reward of helping mankind."

"That was sick, but still not helpful," Ethan said.

"What about all the other Rangers? There must be hundreds of them all over the place. Can't we team up and scout all over the city," Kira asked. Ethan and Hayley looked at Kira. It wasn't a bad idea. Unfortunately, there was a snafu.

"It's not that easy. Most of the Rangers don't have their powers anymore. Some never wanted them at all," Hayley said as the footage of the Wild Force team started to play.

"Cole joined, and the Wild Force Rangers used spirits of the ancient animals to fight the evil Orgs, creatures determined to conquer the Earth through pollution and destruction. The final member to join the team was Merrick, the Lunar Wolf."

Hayley had a bright smile as the Wild Force footage played; she always loved hearing about their team. "Meanwhile, back in reality, we still have no way to find Dr. O," Ethan said.

"I know there's at least one more group of Rangers. They had this guy named Cam who was even more of a genius at this stuff than I am," Hayley said. As if answering a prayer, the video continued.

"Three unlikely Ninja students commanded the power of Earth, Air, and Water. It was the power of Thunder that gave them their biggest challenge. But their greatest enemies proved to be their greatest allies. With Earth at the brink of destruction, another friend, Cam, went back in time to retrieve the one power that could save them all: The power of the Black Darkness Ranger. In their battle against Lothor, the Rangers made the ultimate sacrifice."

"Ninjas are real," Ethan gushed. Eric shrugged.

"Historically, yes. They are real. You just have to separate the fact from bullshit," the White Ranger said. Hayley whipped her head to Eric.

"Eric, language!"

Eric winced. "Sorry, Aunt Hayley."

"Wait, Aunt," Ethan asked.

"We have no genetic relation, but we were both civilians when we found out about the Ranger family, and were pretty much adopted into it. Anyone who is only slighter older or younger are considered brothers and sisters, while those at least 10 years older are considered Aunts and Uncles," Hayley explained. "The family grows with each new team of Rangers, so now you guys are in the family, too."

"Cool," Ethan exclaimed. "Not everyone could say their Uncle was the original Blue Ranger."

The computer beeped again, altering the team to a new development. "I got something," Hayley said in excitement.

"With the return of Mesogog, it is necessary to invoke the power of the Dino Gems. Should anything happen to me, these three are charged with protecting the planet."

"That's us," Kira said as the Rangers saw themselves accepting the bracelets containing the Morphers and Communicators.

"You're in good hands," narrator Tommy finished, signing off.

"He really trusts us," Ethan said.

"He does," Hayley nodded in agreement.

"We have to save him. We owe it to him," Ethan said.

"The whole world owes him," Kira amended.

The computer beeped one more time, alerting the team to a new development. "It worked! I got a lock on an Invisiportal," Hayley exclaimed as an area in the rock quarry was shown.

"Time to go save a teacher," Ethan said.

**Mesogog's fortress**

Tommy was seen still struggling as Mesogog was standing near him and hissing as the Life Force Extractor was preparing to strike…

**AN: **You may have noticed a few key differences, all of which were by design. 1) Yes, I use Dulcea as opposed to Ninjor. And Ninjetti as opposed to Ninja, as Dulcea and Ninjor granted the power of Ninjetti, an important distinction. 2) Chris is an OC, and Billy's younger brother, who took Rocky's place as the Blue Ranger when it was time for Rocky to hand the power over. Chris and Billy will both play important roles in the story. 3) Cam was the Black Darkness Ranger as opposed to Green Samurai to make things more grounded in reality; it's highly unlikely a Samurai would be training alongside Ninja. A Power Rangers fic doesn't have to completely abandon reality.


	4. Chapter 4: Paint it Black

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Power Rangers, Saban does. I own all characters, events, and places not found in Dino Thunder.

Chapter 4: Paint it Black

"I've got a lock on the portal," Hayley exclaimed excitedly.

"We're on it," Eric said.

"Remember, you **must **hit a speed of 536 mph upon entry, otherwise you're never going to get past the security wall and likely get ripped to pieces!"

"You…never mentioned that part, Aunt Hayley," Eric said as he and the others turned around with horrified expressions on their faces.

Hayley smiled sheepishly. "Guess I did," she said. "Never fear; I have the thing for just such an occasion," she said as she input a command and a secret door opened to reveal Blue, Yellow, and White motorcycles.

"Cool!"

"Amazing!"

"This is sweet!"

The three Rangers were gushing over their new vehicles as Hayley stepped forward.

"These are your new Raptor Cycles. They will get you to the portal coordinates in approximately 92.75 seconds!"

"And when we get there," Kira asked.

"Use your Gems to access the Hyper drive. Then head straight through the portal to Mesogog's island fortress."

Ethan saw Eric was still looking at his Raptor Cycle.

"You weren't a part of this," the Blue Ranger asked. Eric shook his head.

" I helped out with most of the stuff in the basement, but not this," the White Ranger responded."

"Tommy asked me to keep it a secret from you, Eric. We both wanted to thank you for your diligence, and once we got started on building one, we figured we'd build more. It was actually a lot of fun," the redhead replied.

"So there are more," Ethan asked. Hayley nodded.

"We also built one for the eventual Pink Ranger, should she ever show up, and one for the Green Ranger. We wanted to get started on building one for the eventual Red Ranger, but then Mesogog attacked, and now here you are."

Eric nodded. "You guys ready," he asked. Kira and Ethan nodded.

"Dino Thunder, power up, ha!"

The Rangers got on their new Raptor Cycles, and they left through another secret passage connecting a cave in the forest to the Command Center.

**Mesogog's fortress**

"This is your final chance, Dr. Oliverrr. Free the Gem from its resting place, or feel the wrath of my disappointment," Mesogog hissed as he rounded the room.

"Do I have to pick one," Tommy deadpanned.

"Your attempt at levity is as feeble as your attempt at self-sacrifice," the dinosaur replied as he pushed the table with the stone encased Gem over to Tommy, still strapped to the chair with the Life Force Extractor activated. The gem started to glow even brighter as it got closer to Tommy.

Tommy sighed as he could feel the Gem's power. _"Will I ever escape this life? When will the Power finally say that I've done more than my share and let teenagers pick up where I left off?"_

"If you won't do it for yourself, perhaps you will for your precious studentsss. Elsa!"

The leather clad Elsa approached Mesogog. "Yes, my Lord?"

"The three teenagers! Bring them to meee!"

Before Elsa could leave, an alarm sounded in the lair as an image of the Rangers was brought up on the monitor.

"Master, it's them! On some kind of vehicles!"

"Like obedient dogs! I speak, and theyyy comma!"

"I could save you some trouble," Tommy said. "Good guys always win!"

"I suppose that all depends on who you believe the good guys to beee! Zeltrax, Elsa, go! Bring help! I want no mistakes this trimmed!"

Tommy watched the lackies leave the room and he continued to struggle against his restraints.

**Beach**

"Whoa, it just stopped," Ethan said.

"This must be where Hayley programmed the coordinates," Kira said. "Look," she said an Invisiportal opened. "There's the Invisiportal! I really hope Dr. O's on the other side!"

"Only one way to find out," Ethan exclaimed.

"You guys ready," Eric said.

"Ready!"

Just as the Rangers were getting ready to activate the Hyper drive, another portal opened depositing Zeltrax, Elsa, a monster, and a group of Tyrannodrones.

"Hey! Nobody invited you to the party," Eric spat.

"I'm crashing, and I brought some friends! Is that rude," Elsa sneered.

"Extremely," Kira responded in kind.

"You're not getting through that portal unless you're in chains," Zeltrax stated as he stepped forward with his sword pointed at the Rangers.

"I might be able to pull that look off, but these guys? No way," Kira joked.

"I vote we go for it," Eric stated, and the others agreed.

The Rangers got back on their Cycles and sped towards the portal, firing lasers at groups of Tyrannodrones. Eric drove up to Zeltrax and Elsa, who promptly attacked. Eric was able to hold them off as he flipped off his Cycle and blocked or evaded attacks, using the martial arts skills his Uncles Jason, Rocky, and Adam taught him. Using the skills Tommy taught him, Eric went on the offensive, being careful to avoid Zeltrax's sword and Elsa's sneak attacks.

Kira continued speeding towards the Invisiportal, using her pistol to fire blasts at Tyrannodrones.

Ethan fought off the monster, using the lasers from his Cycle to continue blasting groups of Tyrannodrones, and his pistol to hammer the monster, knocking it on its ass.

Eric fought Zeltrax, who was using his sword to call upon powerful energy blasts, trying to knock Eric off his Cycle while he was airborne. He got hit a few times, but manages to stay on the Cycle. He fell off the Cycle when it landed, though. Zeltrax was about to press his advantage when Ethan fired his lasers at Zeltrax, sending sprawling into the water. Ethan helped Eric up and onto his bike.

"Will you be good to go," the Blue Ranger asked.

"For now I should be, but I'll be feeling it for awhile."

Eventually, Kira met back up with Eric and Ethan, and they sped off to the portal. Eric's injuries protested the acceleration, but he bit back the pain as they entered the Invisiportal.

**Mesogog's fortress**

"Aunt Hayley, we're in," Eric said.

"OK, I'll recalibrate the bikes to your exit. It seems you have about 5 minutes. Good luck!"

"It seems we have visitorrsss," Mesogog hissed.

"I'm going to take a guess that it's for you," Tommy spat, turning his attention back to his restraints.

"There's that wit again! If I had a sense of humor, I might actually enjoy it! I'll handle the intruders mysellllff!" Mesogog walked out the door and turned left, heading straight for Eric, Ethan, and Kira.

"The lab should be just around here, I think! At least we still have the element of…" she broke off as Mesogog turned around the corner and glared at the Rangers.

"Welcome! We've been expecting youuuu," Mesogog said as the door into the room silently shut, trapping the Rangers.

"…surprise," Kira finished in a whisper.

"You remember me, I trusst?"

"Like I could forget that face," Kira responded.

"Uh, what part's his face," Ethan whimpered.

"Obviously, you are in need of some discipline," Mesogog stated as he sent out pain waves in the direction of the Rangers. Fortunately for them, Zeltrax and the creature ported in at that moment and caught the beam themselves. The Rangers didn't waste any time as they dashed around the group of villains.

"**Geettt them! Nowww!"**

The Rangers arrived in the lab, with Eric holding his waist, the pain from his injuries starting to get to him.

"Hey! Good timing! Hit the red button on the panel," Tommy said as the Rangers freed Tommy from his restraints.

Ethan did as ordered and the door to the lab shut, buying some time.

"Should've known you'd try to rescue me," the veteran Ranger stated.

"Is that your way of saying thanks? Because it needs some work," Ethan stated.

"I'll thank you for real once we get out of here! We can use the main Invisiportal network!" Tommy started typing commands into Mesogog's computer, activating an Invisiportal.

"Hayley gave you the Raptor Cycles, right?" The Rangers nodded. "This way!"

"Wait, we need to talk," Ethan said.

"Now's not the time! I'll explain later!"

"We already know everything," Ethan responded.

"We saw the video diary," Kira added.

"We know you're a Power Ranger," Kira said.

"Was, Kira. Not anymore."

The doors opened and Mesogog and his henchmen entered, livid.

"Ranger or not," Mesogog spat, pointing at Tommy, "you're Minnie now!"

"I hate it when he gets like this," Tommy muttered. He got into an attack stance.

"We can take it from here, Uncle," Eric said. "Ready?"

"Ready," the others stated.

"Dino Thunder, power up, ha!"

The Rangers morphed and the fight was on. Eric took on Zeltrax, while Ethan and Kira took on the Tyrannodrones and the monster. Tommy grabbed the stone with the Gem, while taking on Tyrannodrones and trying to fend off attacks from Mesogog, who was throwing Tommy around like a rag doll.

"Get out of here! I have to get something," Tommy said as he ran back to the stone that was knocked from his hands. He turned back to the Rangers. "Go!"

"We should do as he says," Eric said. The others nodded and leapt into the Invisiportal, getting back onto their bikes. Tommy soon appeared with the stone.

"Do we really need a souvenir," Ethan asked.

"This one, we do!" Elsa ran around the corner with reinforcements. "Go! I'm right behind you," Tommy said.

The Rangers revved their bikes and went through the portal.

**Downtown Reefside**

The Rangers appeared from the Invisiportal, with Tommy appearing right behind them. Zeltrax and his group weren't far behind, and Zeltrax brought his sword up immediately, firing a beam of electricity at Tommy, who held up the stone. The electricity was strong, but Tommy held on, until a bright flash appeared, forcing everyone to shield their eyes. When they brought their arms down, Tommy was nowhere to be seen.

"Uncle!"

"This can't be happening," Kira said.

"So negative! Don't you know that in our world, anything's possible," Elsa sneered, a smirk appearing on her face.

"Even the destruction of the 'great Dr. Tommy Olive,'" Zeltrax added.

A shimmer appeared, and Tommy's form was seen once more.

"I heard my name! You missed me, didn't you Zeltrax," he said smugly.

"Uncle! You're alright!"

Tommy smiled, and frowned as he saw his nephew limping.

"We're going to have to take a look at your injuries when we get back," Tommy said.

"Wait, what's that," Ethan asked as he noticed Tommy's hand glowing. "A Black Dino Gem! Let me guess: The power of invisibility!"

Tommy nodded. "Looks like it."

"That Gem belongs to my Master," Elsa shouted out.

"There's two things you need to learn about Dino Gems. One, you don't choose them; they choose you."

"What's the second," Zeltrax asked. A morpher appeared on Tommy's wrist.

"They go really well with Dino morphers!" He slammed the Gem into the morpher, making it glow.

"Aren't you a little old for this, _Tommy,"_ Elsa sneered.

"I may be old, but I can still pull it off. Dino Thunder, power up!"

Tommy morphed into the Black Ranger for the first time. He may not have wanted to become a Ranger again, but he had to admit that he did miss the feeling of the Power coursing through his blood.

"Just like riding a bike," the new Black Ranger said.

Zeltrax clutched his fist. "One more makes no difference. Attack!"

The fight began in earnest. Tommy fought Zeltrax while Eric fought Tyrannodrones. Kira and Ethan went looking for the monster.

"Where is that petal pusher," Kira asked as she and Ethan had their pistols at the ready.

"Looking for me," the monster asked as it appeared and attacked the Yellow and Blue Rangers.

"Give it up Zeltrax," Tommy said as he and Zeltrax stood facing one another just yards away.

"Never!" He ran up to Tommy and started attacking. He got the upper hand and kicked Tommy away.

"Is that all you got, Black Ranger? You fought better back in the good old days!"

"Give me a break! It's been a while!"

"_What did he mean by 'good old days?'"_

Elsa attacked Eric, and eventually knocked him down due to the increasing pain. He managed to deflect her sword and got back up gingerly. He struggled to fight through the pain, but was able to fight Elsa off.

"We will meet again, White Ranger!" Elsa disappeared through an Invisiportal.

"Don't be a pollinator hater!"

That comment irked Ethan and Kira, who continued to fight the monster, with Eric eventually joining up. Tapping into the White Dino Gem's power, Eric disappeared in a White blur, savagely attacking the monster with his Drago Sword. Eventually, the monster fell to Eric's onslaught.

Tommy and Zeltrax continued to fight, and Tommy kicked him against a statue.

"Go ahead! I dare you," Zeltrax spat.

"No. I got a message for your boss! Tell him Tommy's back! And no matter what color I am, he'll never defeat me!"

Zeltrax disappeared into an Invisiportal.

**Mesogog's fortress**

"One of the Rangers was injured, and you didn't finish the jobbb," Mesogog hiss as he closed in on Elsa. "What do you have to say for yourselfff?"

"I'm sorry, Master! I have no excuse!"

Mesogog leaned in. "Just the answer I was looking foorrr! Is the Hydro Regenerator ready yet?"

"Not yet, my Lord. Some Tyrannodrones destroyed the device during a training session," Zeltrax said. Mesogog sent pain waves to both Elsa and Zeltrax.

"Failure after failure! Do not disappoint me!"

A device on Elsa beeped and she looked at the screen. Her face lit up with an evil smirk.

"Master! The innate purity of the Red and Green Dino Gems has been suppressed! They are now ready!"

Mesogog smiled widely. "Good! Bring the condemned here! No excuses this timmmeee!"

**Command Center**

The Rangers arrived back at their Command Center, and Tommy helped his nephew to a seat.

"Hayley, Kira, Ethan, I'm going to have to ask you guys to step upstairs. I have to examine the extent of Eric's injuries."

The three nodded and went upstairs into Tommy's living room.

"How bad was Eric hurt," Hayley asked Ethan and Kira.

"He was holding his ribs during the battle. They may have been bruised," Kira said.

"Yeah, and I noticed a bit of a limp. He may be out of commission for some time," Ethan added.

"According to Tommy, Rangers powers do accelerate healing, but it still takes time. You may be right, Ethan," Hayley sighed.

Tommy came upstairs after 15 minutes with Eric.

"Well, what's the prognosis, Doc?' Ethan nervously joked, earning a dry look from Tommy.

"He has some bruised ribs and some signs of a concussion. He will not fighting for at least 3 days. I want him to heal, before he gets cracked ribs. I'll call his father and tell him he'll be staying here for a while. He already has some clothes here, so it won't be a problem."

Hayley sighed. "OK, let's just head over to the Cyberspace for smoothies. I closed it early today." The Rangers all headed out to the Cyberspace for some drinks.

**Cyberspace**

Krista was in the Cyberspace, having helped Hayley close it earlier. She was waiting for Conner while drinking a Honeydew smoothie. Hayley saw her niece had a pensive look on her face.

"Krista, what's wrong?"

Krista sighed. "It's Conner. He's become even more quiet than usual lately. And while he tried to hide it, I saw him wince when putting on his backpack after our Chemistry class. I think the situation at his house is getting worse! I still don't have proof, though," she finished sadly.

Hayley grabbed her niece's hand. "I know. I wish I could find the two Detectives that were in here the other day. But we have to tell someone! Where's Conner now?"

"He's at the soccer field, practicing. I told him it was a bad idea, but he was adamant. He said something about it being all he's good for." Hayley's heart sank as she realized what this meant.

"Great. So not only is he being abused physically, but mentally as well. Why? Who's doing it?"

Krista shrugged. "I don't know. But this can't continue. Sooner or later, he'll be injured severely, if he isn't already!"

Hayley shook her head. She prayed answers would come soon, because this couldn't continue. Krista got up after having finished her smoothie and getting rid of the plastic cup.

"I'm going to head out there. I'll see you later."

"See you," Hayley said.

"Dr. O, how did you have that morpher ready?"

"I got an energy reading on the tracking system, and had a pretty good idea it was a Gem. So I had Hayley build a morpher just in case."

"And the day of my gig?"

"I was coming to tell you the energy signal had moved and we should investigate,"

"When you got nabbed by the goon patrol. And speaking of Gem, your ring tone should now be Paint It Black," Eric cracked.

"Nice to see your dry sense of humor hasn't suffered any," Tommy joked right back. "Well, I have to get going."

"Where are you going," Hayley asked, looking at her watch.

"There's a serious shortage of Black in my closet. That must be rectified," he explained as the others laughed.

**Soccer field**

Krista had just shown up as Conner was finished practicing, and saw he still winced as he put his soccer ball down. She was about to call out to him when an Invisiportal opened, depositing Elsa and a large group of Tyrannodrones. Conner and Krista's eyes went wide as they saw the creatures which had immediately grabbed the two teens and brought them back to Mesogog's fortress.

"_What's going on," _was the last thing they thought before being rendered unconscious.


	5. Chapter 5: Red and Green With Evil

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Power Rangers, Saban does. I own all characters, events, and places not found in Dino Thunder.

**AN: **I'm not going to continue typing Mesogog's elongated speech, as it gets annoying.

Chapter 5: Red and Green With Evil

**Cyberspace**

The next day, Hayley was busy with dinner hour. Krista said she was going to spend the night at a friend's place yesterday, and would come home after school let out. But she wasn't back yet, and Hayley was starting to get worried. Before she could focus too much on it, the doors to the Cyberspace opened, and Detectives DeSantos came in. Hayley sighed in relief.

"I'm glad you two are here. I was hoping to find you again. I'll be with you in just a minute," Hayley finished as she gave a customer her sandwich and returned with some menus for Rocky and Aisha.

"Why were you hoping to find us," Aisha asked.

"It's something that's best left for when there's less people around. This is already a delicate situation, and I don't need word to start spreading."

Rocky raised an eyebrow, but nodded anyway. After getting Rocky and Aisha their food and drink, Hayley made the final call announcement, and those who were finished went home. Soon, everyone but Hayley and the two Detectives remained, with Hayley asking them to stay for a moment.

"What's going on," Rocky asked.

"I very strongly believe a friend of my niece had been abused at home lately. I didn't know who to go to, due to the corruption scandal that has rocked the Police Department lately. Nor do I have any real proof."

Hayley went on to explain what she and Kira both saw and heard, as Kira had told Hayley of what happened when she and the others got detention for a week. The two Detectives knew it wasn't a lot to go on, but it may be enough to start poking around. As they continued speaking, two muscle bound men entered the Cyberspace, looking the place over.

"Sorry, but we're closed. You'll have to come back tomorrow."

"We're not here for food. We're looking for a Dr. Thomas Oliver. Have you seen him?"

Rocky and Aisha exchanged looks. _"Doctor Thomas Oliver?" No way they're talking about the Tommy we know."_

"As I said, we're closed. Now please leave."

"Just answer our questions, and we'll be out of your hair," the leader said in an irritated voice.

Rocky had seen and heard enough. "She asked you nicely to leave, and you didn't. Who are you, anyway? State your name and purpose," the former Red growled, flashing his badge, as Aisha did the same.

"It's none of your concern. This is between the lady and us. Get out of our way, and nobody gets hurt."

"You just threatened cops. We can take your asses in right now, if we wanted. Now answer my questions."

"I don't think so," the leader growled as he grabbed Rocky's shoulder, trying to intimidate him. To the man's surprise, Rocky simply smirked, as the other man tried to intimidate Aisha.

"Thank you for doing that," Rocky said as he and Aisha quickly subdued the men. After arresting them and putting them in their car, Rocky and Aisha turned to Hayley.

"Something tells us there's a lot you do know about Tommy, whom we haven't seen for some time. What's going on," Aisha said.

Hayley sighed. She wasn't the type to lie to cops, and she wasn't about to start. But that didn't mean she had to tell them everything. She decided to give an abridged version of the events leading up to that moment.

"Tommy and I met in college, and we both attended grad school at MIT. We quickly became good friends, and helped each other out with classes. He eventually went on to Harvard to get his PhD, while I went to Stanford. During his internship while pursuing his Doctorate, Tommy became a part of an expedition on an island in the Pacific. For some reason that neither of us know, there was an accident, and the island was lost, along with most of the people. Some biologists who were in the area conducting research of marine life rescued Tommy, who went into a short coma. When Tommy woke up, he tried to see if he could go back to where the island was, in case there were survivors. Instead, he was asked a million different questions from numerous authorities, many of whom neither of us trust as far as we can throw this building. And he was never given the answers he sought, whether it was about survivors, or what caused the accident. We both suspect there's a cover-up taking place."

Rocky and Aisha raised their eyebrows at Hayley's explanation, and they agreed that the mess reeked of a cover-up. The fact that some people were sent after Hayley for answers was proof enough. The two Detectives looked at each other and sighed. This was not their day, but they both knew the matters Hayley brought up were quite serious, and must be investigated.

"OK, if you find out anything else, or even suspect anything about all this," Rocky started, gesturing with his hands to allude to what just happened, "give us a call." Rocky gave Hayley his card. "Meanwhile, we're going to start looking into Conner's domestic situation, and also maybe find out what's going on with this mess involving Tommy. Have a nice day," he finished. Hayley returned the greeting and continued to clean the place up and called Tommy.

"So they know I'm here, huh? Perfect," he groused.

"Sorry," Hayley said.

"It's not your fault. We both knew that sooner or later someone might stumble upon it. I was hoping for later rather than sooner, but maybe it's for the best."

"Don't say that just yet. Nobody knows of the project just yet. I stayed clear of that."

"I know. But they're not stupid. We've covered our tracks pretty well, but if they start suspecting something, they know what to look for. I still don't think I'll be able to answer a lot of the inevitable questions. Especially since I don't know all the answers myself. I've tried my contacts, but they've been running into brick walls, as well. We'll talk more about it here. Thanks for letting me know."

"Not a problem. I'll be there soon. Later."

"Later."

The two hung up and Hayley made sure everything was secure and ready for the next day. She then left for Tommy's place.

**Scott residence-Angel Grove**

Jason and his wife Emily just got home from their jobs at Angel Grove Memorial and turned on the news while Jason got started on fixing some grilled chicken for dinner. It had been 3 years since Trini passed away to cancer, and Jason was a mess. But Emily, a civilian Jason met back in the Zeo days, helped him get over the passing of the first Yellow Ranger, and over time, Earth's first Red Ranger fell for the blonde. Their relationship didn't last long after Jason's days as the Gold Ranger came to an end, as Emily had to move to New York for school, and both knew long-distance relationships rarely lasted. But second time seemed to be the charm as the two renewed their relationship a little over a year after Trini's death. Jason initially felt guilty for falling for the beautiful blonde, but Trini came to Jason in a vision while sleeping, and said that while she was touched by his loyalty, he had to let her go and move on with his life.

As the news played, both saw there was a new Ranger team in Reefside. Emily knew Jason held out hope for the day Ranger teams were no longer needed, even if the ideal was foolhardy, as some would say. She knew of Jason's Ranger past, having been told when they became serious. She was hurt at first that Jason didn't tell her, but eventually understood the need for secrecy.

"Uh Jason, you might want to come in here!"

"What's up, Babe?"

"Just watch, and you'll see."

Jason frowned, but did as he was asked. He quickly saw why his wife called him in as he noticed the new Black Ranger use moves that he had been on the receiving end of, both in battle and in sparring.

"What the Hell is this," Jason growled. "When will he put the fucking morpher away?"

"Well, let's be fair here. You once told me that it's not really your choice."

"The Power chooses you. Yes, I remember. But Zordon's not here anymore. How did he even become a Ranger again?"

"I don't know, but don't you think you should at least give him the benefit of the doubt? Maybe he didn't want to do it again."

Jason took a deep breath and exhaled. "Perhaps. All I know is that he acted very weird at Trini's funeral, and he never gave me a satisfactory answer as to why. Maybe now I'll get some answers."

"Just be careful. There may be some things you don't want to know."

"Maybe. Anyway, I have to take some time off before I lose my vacation days, and Reefside is only an hour and a half drive, and less on a good day. Maybe it's time to take some time off and get some answers."

"I'm going with you. And don't try to talk me out of it."

"Wouldn't try to. At times, you remind me so much of Trini. You would've made a good Yellow. And you're just as stubborn as Trini was," he cracked with a smirk. Emily raised an eyebrow and responded just as playfully.

"Yeah, well what does that say about you? You married both her and me."

"Yeah, yeah, don't remind me." He got serious at the next part. "Rocky and Aisha live in Reefside. Maybe they can find him for us."

A loft of things didn't make a lot of sense to Jason. He still wondered why Tommy was acting so strange at the funeral, and when he asked, Tommy said it was nothing he should worry about. Jason didn't like that answer, but something in Tommy's undertone suggested it was something big. There were few times Jason had seen Tommy _afraid, _but that was one of those times. He hoped to be able to get some definitive answers once Rocky and Aisha found Tommy. He decided to call them and ask about it.

**DeSantos residence-Reefside**

After getting what they could on Conner's parents in a short amount of time, they came home and sat at the table in the living room, the files on the table. Aisha got up and got herself and Rocky a beer. After thanking his wife, Rocky turned on the news only to hear of the latest Ranger team. They were glad that there was still people willing to pick up the mantle, but both were also dismayed, wanting for the never-ending evils to just leave them alone. They weren't ignorant-they knew evil would never truly go away, and that it had to exist in order to maintain balance. But they had hoped that there wouldn't have been a need for future Ranger teams. As the veteran Rangers watched the latest report, they noticed the new Black Ranger using some moves that were all too familiar to the both of them.

"No fucking way," Rocky said, spitting out his beer.

"Aren't you a little old for this Tommy," Aisha asked rhetorically, as if Tommy could hear her.

As the veteran Rangers continued watching the footage of the Rangers, Aisha's cell rang and she saw it was Jason.

"Put it on speaker," Rocky said.

"You guys saw it, right?"

Rocky and Aisha didn't need to be told what Jason was asking about. "Yes," Rocky said. "Still doing this shit in his thirties. What's he thinking?"

"Don't know, but now that we know where he is, maybe you two can find him, and we can get some answers."

"Funny you should say that, because some very weird shit went down today."

"What happened," Jason asked in his Red Ranger tone.

"Not over the phone. You come here once we find Tommy," Rocky replied in the same tone. "We'll talk then."

"OK, but you call the moment you find him. It's time we get to the bottom of this."

"Count on it. Look, we got to go. We have a puzzling case here, and we need to get back to it. Later."

"Later, man."

Aisha hung up and the two went back to the files of Eric McKnight, Conner's father. What they found continued to puzzle them, as Rocky got a bad feeling that Conner wasn't the first foster child Eric used.

"_Something else going wrong. How much worse can this day get," _he thought bitterly. He no longer believed in fate, so he had no qualms in thinking that.

**Orlando, Florida**

Kimberly Hart was not having a good week. In fact, she was not having a good month. Everything had been going downhill ever since she caught her latest boyfriend Jeff cheating on her. The worst part is the woman he was cheating on Kim with didn't even know he had a girlfriend, until Kimberly walked into their apartment and saw the two in a compromising position. Three days later she was in her new apartment.

"_If I had known nothing would work out, I never would have left Tommy."_

At the thought of the former White Ranger, Kim sighed. She heard stories from the others of how depressed he was after getting the infamous Dear John letter. At the time, she believed everything she wrote in the letter, as she met fellow gymnast Chase down in Florida and fell hard for him. But she didn't have the courage to call Tommy to break up. And because of her letter, Tommy was driven right into the waiting arms of Kat. Kim wasn't stupid-she knew how the gorgeous Australian with the amazing accent felt about Tommy. But to her credit, Kat never made a move after she freed herself from Rita's spell. She even went out of her way to atone for her actions while under the spell, and Kim couldn't find it in her heart to blame Kat for taking the shot with Tommy. She just hated how she ended things like a coward, and when she saw Tommy hugging Kat at the end of the tournament after the Muranthias incident, she couldn't muster the courage to talk to him. She left without saying goodbye to Tommy, again.

"_After everything I faced as a Ranger, I couldn't handle one talk. How pathetic was that?"_

It turned out that Chase wanted only one thing from Kimberly, and once he got it, he decided to leave her high and dry. She got a small measure of revenge when she revealed his duplicitous behavior to a girl he was hitting on at the training facility, though.

Now here she was, feeling a void in her life, and her top gymnast out for at least a year due to an ACL tear. Kim knew that due to the severity that it was likely a career ending injury. She was no stranger to injuries; indeed no serious gymnast was. Kim had an ACL tear of her own after receiving a Silver medal in the Pan Global Games, and a Bronze medal in the Olympics. Rather than try to make a comeback, Kim decided to retire from competing and instead became a coach. She felt some satisfaction in helping teach the next generation of Olympians, although she oftentimes wondered if it was enough. She felt as if she no longer had the passion she once did for the sport, and it wasn't fair to the hopefuls for their coach to not put as much effort in teaching them as they did in practicing.

Kim made a sandwich, pulled a beer from the fridge, and sat down to watch the news. She saw, to her utter dismay that yet another Ranger team had been created, this time in Reefside, California. She held no delusions-she knew that evil would always exist, and that hoping for its destruction was a childish ideal. But she still hoped that no evil would arise that would necessitate the creation of new Ranger teams. The news was showing footage of the latest team handling an attack from a robotic creature named Zeltrax, and of the newest Black Ranger…who just happened to use moves very familiar to the former Pink Ranger. She rubbed her eyes and opened them again, thinking her eyes were playing tricks. They weren't.

"_It can't be. Just can't stay from it, can you Tommy?"_

Now that Kim decided to be honest with herself, she had indeed lost her passion for gymnastics and was giving serious consideration to retiring from it altogether. She wanted to get back to her singing, and she knew her old friend and former Ranger Zack Taylor had connections. He had already signed Tanya Park, helping to launch her career to superstardom. There were other coaches there who could pick up where she left off. And Reefside did have an up and coming star in one Kira Ford. Perhaps that would be a good place to move to, and it'd give Kim an opportunity to clear things up with the new Black Ranger. She just hoped he didn't hate her.

**London, England**

On the other side of the Atlantic, another former Pink Ranger was not doing so well, either. Katherine "Kat" Hillard had, on paper at least, a good life. She was doing what she loved, and being with the Royal Dance Company was a dream come true for the Australian beauty. But she still felt hollow inside. All of her fellow cast members had found the ones they wished to spend their lives with, and it simply reminded Kat of how empty her own love life was. She had tried to move on from Tommy, even though she was the one who broke it off in an email of all things.

"_I still can't believe I did that. I saw how heartbroken he was after getting Kim's letter, and I did the same thing. I didn't even give him the chance to say goodbye."_

That act would come back to haunt her in the following years. She had boyfriends, and even got serious with one, until he decided that he wasn't ready for a long-term relationship. She was devastated, but grateful that he was at least honest with her.

"_It was better than what I did to Tommy. At least he didn't run off without even giving a hint that he was going to break things off."_

Kat sighed as her mind came back to that damn email. She felt horrible about doing that to him. And when the Holidays came around, she felt even worse. Her mother had passed away, and her father has one foot in the grave, and he begged her to not see him like that. He hated feeling weak, a trait she acquired from him. She begged him to let her see him, as she didn't know if it'd be the last time she saw him alive. But he was adamant, and she sadly gave into his wishes. She didn't know what became of her brother and his wife as they lost contact with each other. So she didn't have anyone to spend the Holidays with, and it left her in a dreadful melancholy during the Holiday season. Some of her cast members feared for her health, and silently prayed that she pulled out of her state. They even invited her to spend the Holidays, or any other time, with them, as they all loved her. She took them up on their offers sometimes, but it still wasn't enough. She appreciated their efforts, and made sure to tell them so. But she was always reminded of how lonely she was when she saw people celebrating with their siblings, wives, husbands, children, and parents.

She had to pull herself out of this. She knew that something had to give. But first, she decided to get something to eat. As she pulled out her unfinished salad from lunch and got a glass of water, she turned on the news. She sighed, shaking her head as news of yet another Ranger team was being announced. This one was based in Reefside, California.

"_Not Angel Grove? There's a bit of a shock. For once, some freak doesn't want to wipe out home."_

As Kat listened to news of this team, she noticed they mentioned a new Black Ranger. As they showed footage of the Black Ranger's battle with a Humanoid robot named Zeltrax, Kat couldn't help but tilt her head as she noticed the Black Ranger using some very familiar moves.

"_Can't you say enough is enough, Tommy?"_

Kat bolted out of her seat as she realized this presented an unforeseen opening. Ever since sending that email, she hadn't spoken with Tommy, having lost the nerve to talk to him at Trini's funeral. The other Rangers haven't seen him in a long time, either. He apparently had been skipping Ranger reunions, much to Jason's dismay. Earth's first Red Ranger had always hoped that Tommy and Kim would at least talk to each other, and Jason didn't know where Tommy had been hiding ever since Trini's funeral. Now that Kat knew where Tommy was, perhaps she could apologize for the way she abandoned Tommy, and go from there.

**Mesogog's fortress**

"My Lord, I have the prisoners," Elsa said as she came in with Conner and Krista.

"Excellent. Take them to the cell and strap them into the chairs. They must be broken first."

Zeltrax had the Tyrannodrones follow him to a medium sized cell that had two chairs with straps and a small helmet apparatus at the top. The Tyrannodrones strapped Conner and Krista in, their struggles not having done anything to loosen the grip. When they were strapped in, Zeltrax attached the helmets to Conner and Krista. Zeltrax hit a red button on the wall by the exit and walked back into the lab as the screams of Conner and Krista were heard echoing down the halls.

"Master, why not just force the Gems on them now? They're weak and cannot resist," the cyborg asked.

"Because Evil Rangers have an annoying tendency to break free. They always have some free will left, and fight the dark influence. We must break them first, making it much more difficult to bring them back," Elsa explained.

"Exactly," Mesogog said. "We must learn from the failures of other villains, and not make the same mistakes ourselves."

After the teens screamed for a few minutes, the base went silent, and Mesogog was satisfied, knowing the kids were now unconscious. He ordered Zeltrax and some Tyrannodrones to bring them in. Zeltrax approached the teens, whose heads were dipped forward. Zeltrax used a foul smelling chemical of Mesogog's creation to awaken the teens, and they were freed from the chairs, with the Tyrannodrones dragging them into the lab.

"Bring them here," Mesogog stated as he approached a table with two silver bracelets, one with a Red Gem in the center, and the other had a Green Gem. The Tyrannodrones brought the teenagers towards the table.

"What do you want with us," Conner slurred, still recovering from the attack, but getting some strength back, while Krista recovered more quickly.

"You are going to help us kill the Power Rangers, and help us return the planet to its prehistoric roots," came the response.

"Why would we help you do that? What if we refuse," Krista snarled, her anger starting to return.

Elsa punched Krista in the stomach, making her double over. Conner's own ire was raised, as he snarled and renewed his struggle against the Tyrannodrones. He managed to kick Elsa in the face, breaking her nose. Zeltrax growled and punched Conner in the stomach, making the weakened teen fall to his knees in pain. Zeltrax pulled out his sword as Elsa got up and went to punish Conner.

"No! We need them in one piece to kill the Rangers." Mesogog turned to the teens. "You have no choice! You will obey me!"

Elsa and Zeltrax lowered their weapons, but not before glaring hatefully at Conner and Krista as the Tyrannodrones picked them up and shoved them towards the table with the bracelets. The bracelets shook and latched themselves onto the teens' wrists, the Gems having chosen the two.

Conner fell to his knee once more as he was overtaken with an energy he never experienced. He saw a glimpse of a Red warrior with a Silver diamond-shaped shield, grasping a Dagger with a Red background, several buttons, and a mouthpiece. The background had a T-Rex.

Krista struggled to stand up, but had difficulty when she was overwhelmed with energy. An image flashed in her mind of a warrior in a Green outfit and a Parasaur in the background.

The teens slowly regained their footing as Red and Green Ranger suits encased them. Mesogog gazed on the two Rangers with pride.

"Now, go kill the Rangers!"

The two Evil Rangers silently turned and entered an Invisiportal, taking them into the heart of downtown Reefside.

"Send a monster down as well. Make them think we're looking for our new allies."

"Yes, my Lord," Zeltrax said as he created a monster.

**Command Center  
**

The computer beeped as the team was in the Command Center.

"It's downtown," Hayley said.

"Ready, guys" Tommy asked.

"Ready."

"Dino Thunder, power up!"

**Downtown**

"White, Blue, Yellow, Black, nope! I'm looking for something in basic Red and Green."

"Red and Green? What's it talking about," Kira asked.

"Keep your eyes open. I have a bad feeling about this," Tommy commanded.

The Rangers were thrown into a wall by an unseen force. They got up and shook their heads, then noticed a Green Ranger in a skirt, her blaster casually held against her shoulder.

"Hey, what's going on? What are you doing," Ethan asked.

"Defeating you, of course. There are 4 Rangers too many. Time to change that." Her voice sounded altered and very cold.

The Green Ranger held up her hand, and Eric was sent flying face first into a tree.

"Telekinesis," Tommy muttered. "No wonder the attack seemed to come out of nowhere."

Krista then turned her blaster into its sword mode and went to work on the Rangers, moving with a fury that was familiar to the former Evil Green Ranger. Tommy held his own before Krista managed to get in a glancing blow with her sword. She threw him towards the others, who were regrouping, looking for any weakness they could exploit.

"And now for the coup de grace," the Green Ranger's altered voice sneered.

"How much worse can it get," Ethan whined.

"We still haven't met the Red Ranger yet, and I'm willing to bet he's around here somewhere," Tommy pointed.

A slow clapping was heard as the Rangers picked themselves up and saw to their horror that the Red had shown himself. He was casually leaning against a building near the Rangers, his ankles crossed. To Tommy's dismay, he saw the Red Ranger bore an outfit that had elements of the Original Rangers' uniforms, namely the Green Ranger uniform, as well as the Dino Thunder uniforms. The diamonds that went down the length of the outfit were Black as opposed to the White on the other Rangers' uniforms. The uniform's color itself was a dark Red. The footprint was superimposed on a White diamond, reminding Tommy of the Mighty Morphin' uniforms. The helmet's markings remained the same. But what really struck Tommy in the gut was the Silver triangular shield on the Red Ranger's chest that had small dinosaur footprints in each of the corners, eerily similar to his Dragon shield, the Silver armbands, and the Dagger bathed in Red he was carrying that looked far too much like the Dragon Dagger for Tommy's comfort.

"Very good, Black Ranger." The Red Ranger's voice was even lower and darker. It sent a shiver through the team's spines.

"Guys, watch out for that Dagger! It can do some unpleasant things!"

"You sound like you have first hand experience with it," Ethan said.

"He should! That's the Dragon Dagger, the weapon of choice of the first Green Ranger," Eric exclaimed.

"Enough talk," the Red Ranger snarled as he moved in a speed Eric couldn't match, and savagely attacked the Rangers with the Dagger. Tommy was able to hold his own for a while, but Conner's superior stamina and flexibility prevailed, as the Black Ranger was knocked down.

Tommy was confused. He knew the Evil Rangers would be more powerful; that was simply the name of the game. But he wasn't able to get a hit on either of the Red or Green Rangers.

"_Is this what I was like as the Evil Green Ranger? Or is there something else?"_

As Tommy thought about it, the two Evil Rangers stood a few yards away, with the Green slightly behind the Red.

"That was only a taste of our power. Next time, we won't be so kind," the Red Ranger promised. They disappeared into an Invisiportal.

**Mesogog's fortress**

"You were told to kill the Rangers! You let them go! Why," Zeltrax growled as he stepped in front of the Evil Rangers. Krista growled.

"Back off," she hissed as she kicked the cyborg away. Zeltrax got up and put his hand to his sword, only to be stopped by Mesogog.

"You didn't answer the question," Mesogog said as he rounded the Evil Rangers. "Why did you let them go?"

"Emotional torment is a powerful tool," Conner explained. "If we let them stew in their sound defeat, it'll be easier to break them. They don't stand a chance against us-they know this now. This game of chess has just begun."

Mesogog thought on that. "Good answer. I'll let you continue, for now. But be sure to kill them when the time comes."

Conner and Krista nodded and left through an Invisiportal.

**Command Center**

"That sucked," Eric groaned as he and the other Rangers stumbled into the Command Center.

"Tell me about it," Ethan added. "My bruises have bruises!"

"Hayley, I wasn't able to land a single hit on those two. Evil Rangers were always stronger," he held up a hand to silence the protests of his teammates, "but something's not right here."

"Yes, I've noticed that, as well." Hayley picked up a scanning device and checked Tommy.

"Uncle, what's that," Eric asked as he, Ethan, and Kira looked at the device with interest.

"It's a life force scanner. I built it when I learned of Mesogog building a life force extractor, which I believe has indeed taken some of my life force."

Eric's eyes became saucers. "A life force extractor? Geez, how nasty can one get?"

"I suspected he managed to take some years off you. This confirms it. You lost at least 2, perhaps 5 years tops off your life expectancy. You're lucky it wasn't more," Hayley announced.

"Mesogog wanted me to free the Dino Gem from the stone. I wouldn't have been of any use dead. No, he used it as a torture device more than anything else."

"Lovely," Hayley groused.

"Is there any way to reverse this," Kira asked. Tommy and Hayley shook their heads.

"We need to get our hands on the actual device," Hayley said.

"And that's on Mesogog's island, which is swarming with Tyrannodrones. Elsa and Zeltrax are undoubtedly there, as well," Tommy added.

"So what? We're just supposed to sit here and let you accept years stolen from you," his nephew spat.

"Eric, there's nothing we can do that the moment. What Hayley, you, Billy, and I have built is impressive, but still nowhere near what Zordon and Alpha had. They had millennia to prepare. I had few years. I'm just supremely lucky that Billy was visiting Earth from Aquitar, and that Hayley chose to set up shop here, rather than take any of the numerous job offers from the government and private sector. And you had school. So what you see here is what we've got," Tommy explained and Eric sighed.

"And speaking of what we have," Tommy said, "I've managed to procure the materials needed to complete the teleportation device. Now all that's needed is the completed equations."

"I have those right here," Hayley said as she produced a notebook. "You gave us a very good start, and Eric helped fill it in, while I finished the work. We should start building it as soon as possible."

"A teleportation device? I thought you said Dr. O isn't a rocket scientist," Ethan said, his eyes bugging out.

"That was a tongue-in-cheek comment. While he may not be a rocket scientist in name, it may surprise you to know that he has the intellect, and his friend Dr. Cranston and I have been teaching him. With his background in Electrical Engineering, he's ideally suited for this undertaking, with my help as an astrophysicist and Mechanical Engineer, which I hold my second Doctorate in."

Kira and Ethan looked at their mentor with a whole new set of eyes and respect. They knew he was brilliant, but they didn't know he was _that _brilliant.

"Changing the subject here," Ethan said. "Do you have any idea who these new guys are? And how we're supposed to deal with them?"

Tommy shrugged his shoulders. "You guys may have a better idea than I do, as Rangers are typically teenagers. I had no intention of becoming a Ranger again, and was more than content to simply train the three of you and work behind the scenes with Hayley. The Red and Green Rangers are likely people you know."

"Great," Kira said in a despondent way. "How do we fight friends, or at least acquaintances?" 

"It won't be easy. But remember what I told you: An Evil Ranger is never so by choice. It is forced on them. And when we free them, they will be feeling very guilty. I've been there; I still have regrets about my time as the Evil Green Ranger. The important thing is to never give up hope that you can free them, and to be there for them when they are freed. They will need you more than anything at that point," the former Evil Green Ranger said.

The three teens sighed and Eric said he'd drive them home. They hoped to be able to get some answers tomorrow, and were thankful today was Friday; they didn't know if they could show up at school dead on their feet. They hoped the Red and Green Rangers didn't attack, but also knew it was a fool's hope. They just prayed they'd be ready for the next attack, and that they'd get some good news. They'd need all the help they can get.


End file.
